Planners unveil potential transportation tax-supported projects

Improvements to roads and interchanges and a new bicycle trail are among the local projects that could be funded if voters approve a transportation sales tax in August.

The Missouri Department of Transportation held an open house at the Osage Centre on Thursday evening to give people the opportunity to view a draft list of projects created as part of the proposed Constitutional Amendment 7 and speak with regional planning partners and MoDOT representatives.

The amendment would temporarily raise the state's sales tax by three-quarters of a cent for transportation funding. MoDOT officials have said its budget is expected to decline sharply and by 2017 it will be too low just to keep infrastructure in its current condition.

The tax increase would not apply to medicine or food purchases, and the amendment prohibits the state from raising the gas tax or implementing toll roads during the sales tax's life span.

If voters approved the measure, which would bring in an estimated $5.4 billion over 10 years, the revenue would go toward a list of projects that address needs across the state.

Southeast District Engineer Mark Shelton said MoDOT has been dedicated to compiling a comprehensive list and ensuring the public has an opportunity to see it and ask questions. Displays at the open house listed each project alphabetically by county and featured them as points on a map across the region.

An hour and a half into the three-hour event, Shelton said MoDOT already was seeing a good turnout.

"Folks are looking closely at the map and at the list," he said. "They've got good questions about the projects and are asking some tough questions about the funding, which is fair and good."

Many of the questions officials heard at the open house focused on the list and the way it was created. MoDOT began the process with public hearings in March, asking for transportation plans. Then local regional planning committees prioritized the projects using a scoring tool and committee recommendations. The tool was based on four transportation priorities MoDOT originated during its "Missouri on the Move" campaign last year: maintenance, safety, economic development and transportation choices.

Next, the five planning organizations in the Southeast District submitted their transportation project lists to the district, which was given a June deadline to combine and prioritize the lists into one that will be submitted to MoDOT. Shelton said the draft list will be reviewed, and the final list will be approved after a July 9 commission meeting in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Among the local projects on the draft list was a new pedestrian/bike trail from East Main Street in Jackson to Route W in Cape Girardeau and Interstate 55 corridor interchange improvements from Fruitland to Scott City.

Gov. Jay Nixon recently announced he does not support the transportation tax, calling it "neither a fair nor fiscally responsible solution to our transportation infrastructure needs." But Shelton said MoDOT wasn't focusing on the politics surrounding the amendment; the agency was ensuring it does the best possible job of fulfilling its duties before voters head to the polls in August.

"We just want to work on a good project list and work with the public and get their input," he said.

For those unable to attend the open house, the list and an online comment form will be available at noon Friday at modot.org/movingforward.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

Osage Centre