MoDOT continues all-or-nothing approach

In its ongoing campaign to convince Missouri legislators and taxpayers that it really needs another $1 billion a year, the Missouri Department of Transportation likes to compare its highway spending with other states. Based on per-mile spending for state-maintained highways, Missouri ranks 47th.

But Missouri's 32,000 miles of state highways include 24,000 miles of cheaper-to-maintain lettered routes that most other states don't include in their highway departments.

The Southeast Missourian has been pointing this out for years. State Sen. Wayne Goode, a St. Louis Democrat, made the same distinction this week during a Senate hearing on transportation funding. In addition, committee chairman Morris Westfall took MoDOT director Henry Hungerbeeler to task for ignoring Westfall's request for less-costly spending options.

MoDOT's case won't be made on the basis of pie-in-the-sky requests that the state cannot afford. Unless the highway department is willing to come up with a reasonable plan, it is likely to face another year without additional funding.