Road commission issues apology for dropping '92 plan

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission formally apologized Friday for abandoning six years ago the ambitious 1992 state plan for road projects.

An advisory panel appointed by the commission last year called for a public apology among its several recommendations for restoring public trust in the commission. Commissioners said it's time to put the issue of the so-called 15-year plan behind them.

"We sincerely apologize for our inability to complete the 1992 plan as originally proposed," the commission said a written statement that was read and adopted at Friday's meeting.

The commission said it has "learned from that experience" and now plans projects five years out and does not promise anything it cannot deliver.

The plan adopted in 1992 -- along with a 6-cent fuel tax increase -- set goals for the next 15 years but was abandoned in 1998 when commissioners said it was underfunded by more than $1 billion a year, partly because it did not account for inflation or a growth in road projects. The tax, however, continued and is now permanent.

"It's like a cloud over the department and commission's head," commissioner Bill McKenna said. "We need to get it behind us."

Morris Westfall, a former state senator from Halfway and a member of the advisory panel, said in a telephone interview after the meeting that he was glad to hear of the apology.

"That's a big step. I'm impressed with the commission. I think they're making their decisions for the right reason," he said.

After the overwhelming voter defeat in 2002 of a roughly $500 million transportation tax plan, commissioners appointed the panel to recommend improvements.

Besides the apology, the panel also suggested the commission change the Department of Transportation's culture by reorganizing top management and pushing decisions down to regional highway districts.

The commission noted that department director Henry Hungerbeeler has already announced his resignation, effective this summer. The search is under way for a replacement.

A push for toll roads

The panel also recommended a renewed push for toll road authority, which would require changing the state constitution, and an end to the diversion of highway dollars to other state agencies, which could require a constitutional change.

Commissioners supported those changes, but noted the decisions were beyond their control. They plan to ask the state auditor's office to account for all highway dollars that other agencies spend.

The panel also recommended moving the transportation department's inspector general outside of the agency. The commission said that is up to the legislature, but added it would explore placing the inspector general under the Division of Legislative Oversight.

In general, the commission said it agreed with many of the panel's recommendations. Many, however, are either outside of their control or already are in progress as part of the effort to cut costs and make the transportation department more accountable to the public.

Westfall said the panel recognized that. "The commission was already started in the basic direction of most of the things we talked about," he said.