Travelers consider highways in Missouri middle of the road

ST. LOUIS -- Trucker Mike Conway knows that griping about Missouri's roads does little in the long run.

"We're always whining and crying that there's only two seasons out here -- winter and road construction," said the 26-year trucker from Fremont, Neb. "I think we all want something done, but nobody wants to pay for it. It can't be much fun trying to figure out how to pay for a highway."

Ask those making their living on the ribbons of Missouri roads, and different critiques abound. They rate the state's freeways as poor or average -- even among the nation's sorriest. Some complain that Interstate 70 between St. Louis and Kansas City causes the most grief; others pan Interstate 44.

Many haulers have their own wish lists. And they're not quite sure what to make of a tax proposal meant to make things better.

On Aug. 6, Missouri voters will be asked to raise Missouri's fuel tax by 4 cents to 21 cents a gallon and its sales tax by one-half cent to 4.725 cents on a dollar. The money would be spent on highways, bridges, mass transit and other transportation needs.

With road improvements in mind, Gov. Bob Holden last month signed a wide-ranging transportation bill making permanent the state's 6-cent-per-gallon motor fuel tax approved by lawmakers in 1992.

I-70, Conway says, "needs a lot of work." Colleague John Trammell from Fernley, Nev., sure has felt that way, often voluntarily going 200 miles out of his way "to keep from going across Missouri on 70" while on runs from Florida to Washington state.

"Up until six months ago, I used to bypass Missouri because of the potholes. They were really bad, but they're getting straightened out now," Trammell said at an I-70 rest stop near Concordia in western Missouri.

Negative impressions

To Canadian trucker Dan Stovall, I-70 remains "horrible, disgusting and antiquated." West of St. Louis, he grouses, the freeway has curves too narrow and tight, with little warning that they're ahead. Two-lane stretches should be doubled.

"I-44 is not too bad, but it's kind of rough," Stovall said while heading west with his driving mate, wife Bettyann. "Coming down from Canada, as soon as you hit I-44 it's the roughest part of the trip. Get to Oklahoma, and they're smooth as glass again."

Pharmaceuticals salesman Van Martin considers Missouri's highways and byways "middle of the road" -- not too different from those in other nearby states he visits on the job.

Martin, of Lenexa, Kan., thinks "Texas is about as good as it gets." Trucker Duane Naquin, 32, gives that nod to his home state of Tennessee, rating Missouri's conditions "poor" but still calling Arkansas "the absolute worst" when it comes to freeways. No, Stovall says, that would be Louisiana.

To Naquin, additional money for improvements might be best spent on bolstering highway drainage, more signs with updated reflective materials -- notably though rural areas -- and longer exit ramps, especially when big rigs have to suddenly slow to 30 mph at weigh stations.

If Jerry Kimbel had his way, engineers would do more to keep roads level with many bridges, eliminating the "big bump" that has bothered the J.B. Hunt driver from Arkansas. To him, I-44 has the worst trouble spots -- "a rough ride" -- in Missouri, notably the curvy stretch around Rolla.

With a fleet of 2,700 vehicles, Springfield-based Prime Inc. hauls throughout North America -- at no small expense, says John Hancock, a member of the company's management team. With rigs getting less than six miles to the gallon, he says, a 4-cent increase would cost Prime $200,000 more each year.

Prime already pays nearly $1 million a year in fuel taxes to Missouri, as well as $4 million for licensing, registration and other fees in 2001, Hancock said.

Convinced Missouri has some of the nation's worst roads, Hancock says he's troubled by the lack of assurances that money from the fuel-tax measure actually would go toward improvements.

"The roads in Missouri aren't getting proper maintenance," he said. "They do need more attention. The debate, obviously, is how to accomplish that."