IT'S TIME TO END MISSOURI'S ROAD DETOUR AND FIND A WORKABLE PLAN FOR HIGHWAYS

I rise today to speak a few kind words for our state's Department of Transportation, not that anyone asked me to nor because I have a minor predilection for speaking up for anyone who may be even at least partly innocent of the crimes with which they have been charged.

I do so at this moment because a recent visit to Jefferson City convinced me that few persons in state officialdom seem to be giving any thought at all to resolving what has become known in some quarters as the 15-Year Road Plan Booboo. An unscientific poll taken among the officials I met with indicates most of our elected officials have adopted an attitude that the problem is so complex and so ripe for political animus that it has been reduced to a kind of nether world that virtually precludes intelligent discussion or even minimally rational contemplation. It should be added that this fear of partisan fire bombs is not entirely unjustified.

As everyone should know by now, a highway development program that promised to be the largest ever undertaken in Missouri since the interstate projects of the 1960s was suddenly found to be lacking in the one ingredient that is absolutely essential to the completion of any project, public or private: sufficient funding. The 15-year plan, it was discovered through sheer hindsight, had only enough promised revenue to last for slightly more than half its proposed tenure, leaving it devoid of several billion dollars.

This disclosure was met with loud cries of anger, despair and gut-wrenching moans interspersed with accusations of stupidity, duplicity and other Machiavellian tactics, with only an occasional cry of defense to break the monotony. None of the hand-wringing judgments passed down by almost everyone, including this writer, was in the least beneficial to resolving the problem and perhaps served only to contribute to it. Outstate Missourians saw it as an attempt to shift funds from rural districts to urban centers, while St. Louisans and Kansas Citians saw the program as an attempt to pacify small-town political interests. Neither side was completely wrong.

Regardless of how the revenue misjudgments were made and who made them, regardless of any sinister political intents and regardless of who would benefit most from the painful act of cancellation, it is time for the state to begin resolving the issue and setting once again on a well-mapped journey to meeting the 15-year plan's objectives. Unfortunately, the absence of remedies immediately upon discovery of the revenue flaws has made consensus even more difficult and much more elusive than all of the parties involved realize. Positions have become hardened, and the prevailing bunker mentality in our state capital is that nothing can be done.

Indeed, the mood seems to be that a reasonable solution cannot be found until the clouds disappear and the answer is written in the sky. In other words, many appear to believe the problem cannot be solved without a miracle from Above. Unfortunately, while waiting for their magical answer, most officials are sharpening their attacks in anticipation of an event that will occur in November, namely the general elections. For the first time in many years, a major state development program has become wrapped in such a package of partisanship that it would seem nothing short of the hoped-for miracle will save the state from continuing the debate another 15 years.

As more of a defense of past mistakes and in reaching a wise decision to minimize as much as possible the original judgments, the incumbent six-member Highways and Transportation Commission launched its own five-year program, which was little more than a junior version of the original senior plan. At least the commission didn't barricade the agency's headquarters and await a political kamikase attack.

Strangely and unexpectedly, this substitute plan has turned out far better than anyone seems to have anticipated. Transportation Department officials said the other day that in the past five years, the agency had completed 835 highway projects costing more than $3.3 billion. That's not half bad. Indeed, it represents a significant increase in new construction programs and a good start on improving the statewide system with its 32,000 miles of roads and bridges around the state.

Except when it was inaugurated and then when additional revenue was needed to take full advantage of Interstate funding, Missouri has successfully employed a pay-as-you-go system for new projects, and this strategy has even greater merit today in light of expanding health, educational and environmental programs carried out by Jefferson City. Every bond that is bought and paid for from future tax revenue reinforces existing tax levels and raises the possibility of still higher levies. And every dollar Missourians must spend on bond interest is money that enriches no one except bond houses and rich investors.

Neither Gov. Mel Carnahan nor most members of the General Assembly appear anxious to resolve this problem with any number of mitigating alterations. Removing some of the non-highway expenses of the Transportation Department, such as fiscal responsibility for certain Highway Patrol expenses, would help free up more road-building projects. So would some non-highway activities that could be transferred to other agencies. Belt tightening may be painful in the short haul. Over the long run it serves to strengthen the body politic in meeting its responsibilities and its goals.

Before Jefferson City is left with only bad choices, the preferred solutions of extending the 15-year completion date, eliminating extraneous costs and seeking new, non-taxing revenues would be the best route to follow. Any other strategy will almost certainly lead to detours that effectively sidetrack Missouri's needed highways for future growth.

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of Missouri News and Editorial Service.