Cape council faces airport decision, public hearing tonight
(03/05/07)
Cape Girardeau City Council has a busy night ahead with both tax breaks and flight service on the agenda for Monday's 7 p.m. meeting. Council members will vote to endorse or change recommendations from the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport Advisory Board on which carrier the Department of Transportation should select to provide air service out of Cape Girardeau...
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Missouri highway funding
Missouri unveils bridge repair plan
(09/08/06) COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Flanked by a decaying bridge and a yellow school bus, state officials on Thursday announced plans to repair or replace 800 of Missouri's worst bridges by 2012. The project, labeled the Safe & Sound Bridge Improvement Plan, will allow a single contractor to both design and build the bridge upgrades as well as maintain the bridges for at least 25 years, at an estimated cost of $400 million to $600 million...
Highway commission OKs decreased spending through 2011
(07/12/06) From staff and wire reports FRONTENAC, Mo. -- Spending on Missouri roads and transportation will face a dramatic decrease five years from now, from $1.6 billion next year to $700 million in 2011 partly because materials have become so expensive, highway officials said Tuesday...
Highway commission OKs decreased spending through 2011
(07/12/06) From staff and wire reports FRONTENAC, Mo. -- Spending on Missouri roads and transportation will face a dramatic decrease five years from now, from $1.6 billion next year to $700 million in 2011 partly because materials have become so expensive, highway officials said Tuesday...
MoDOT consultants discuss survey, shortcomings
(12/07/05) SIKESTON, Mo. -- Missouri's underfunded and outdated transportation system needs public help setting long-term goals, consultants told a group of community and business leaders Tuesday. The Southeast Regional Working Group met at the Missouri Department of Transportation District 10 office. Consultants from HNTB Corp., working under a $1.5 million contract from MoDOT, discussed details of a statewide opinion survey and perceived transportation shortcomings...
Missouri's 'diversion' funds down 8.3 percent
(08/11/05) Amendment 3 bolsters MoDOT's coffers mostly by pulling money from general revenue. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- When Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment 3 last year, they were promised it would "end the diversion" of highway money to agencies other than the Missouri Department of Transportation...
Highway bill gives Missouri sixth-largest allotment in the nation
(08/03/05) Naysayers charge many projects were passed for political reasons. When President Eisenhower proposed the first national highway bill, there were two projects singled out for funding. The latest version has, by one estimate, 6,371 of these special projects, a record that some say politicians should be ashamed of...
Bill funds 2 local road projects
(07/29/05) Congress approves money for East Main interchange and Ramsey Creek bridge. The new federal highway bill on the verge of congressional approval will fuel two long-sought highway projects in the area: Jackson's East Main Street interchange and Scott City's Ramsey Creek bridge...
Report- MoDOT spends nearly $500,000 on flights
(04/29/05) ST. LOUIS -- Flying Missouri highway commissioners and other Department of Transportation employees around the state over the past 21 months has cost taxpayers more than $475,000, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday. The flights have been taken since state Auditor Claire McCaskill criticized the department for using planes inefficiently and for not having a written policy. ...
Pending highway bill aids Missouri with additional $1 billion
(04/05/05) The road to better highways and transportation is full of roadblocks, detours and orange barrels. But if the federal transportation bill is authorized this summer, U.S. Sen. Kit Bond said there will be an additional $1 billion in new highway funds for Missouri...
Blunt soon will get chance to shape highway commission
(01/24/05) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- On the campaign trail, Gov. Matt Blunt called for greater oversight of the Missouri Department of Transportation. In a few weeks, he will be able put his stamp on the agency's governing body. Because of a 2003 statutory change, two seats on the State Highways and Transportation Commission -- one third of the panel's membership -- will be open as of March 1...
Blunt wants governor to pick MoDOT chief
(12/13/04) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A few years ago when House Republicans were in the minority and proposed making the head of the Missouri Department of Transportation a gubernatorial appointee, Democratic leaders weren't interested. When Gov. Bob Holden, a Democrat, embraced the idea in 2003, enthusiasm among Republicans, who by that time controlled both legislative chambers, had waned...
MoDOT's leader describes plans for new revenue
(12/01/04) Before coming to take charge of the Missouri Department of Transportation, Pete Rahn said he had read that MoDOT was a broken organization with systems that didn't work. But Tuesday, after about 75 days on the job, Rahn told the more than 100 attendees at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's annual transportation dinner that his initial impression wasn't at all reality. ...
Roadways more traveled receiving new funds
(11/11/04) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The director of the state Transportation Department provided a preview Wednesday of how officials plan to spend new money voters have set aside for roads, with an immediate focus on repaving heavily traveled routes. Pete Rahn presented the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission with a plan for issuing about $1.3 billion in bonds to make roads, in the agency's new slogan, "smoother, safer, sooner." Voters last week overwhelmingly passed a state constitutional amendment to direct all vehicle sales taxes and some gas taxes to improving roads and bridges.. ...
Supporters of highway funding amendment raise $760,000 plus
(10/19/04) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The group pushing an amendment to the state constitution that would direct more state tax money to roads collected more than $760,000 in recent months, including sizable contributions from the construction industry, business and labor groups... 
McCaskill, Blunt call for MoDOT reforms
(09/28/04)Editor's note: This is the second in a six-part weekly series examining key issues in the Missouri governor's race. By Marc Powers ~ Southeast Missourian JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Reform of the leadership structure of the Missouri Department of Transportation and improved accountability over the use of existing road revenue will be needed before voters can be asked to consider higher taxes for transportation, the two major party candidates for governor say...
Amendment 3 would dedicate money for state highway bonds
(09/26/04) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- In an effort to provide the Missouri Department of Transportation with additional money without a tax increase four years ago, state lawmakers authorized the agency to sell up to $2.25 billion in bonds to finance more road and bridge construction projects...
Reallocation of motor vehicle taxes began in 1979
(09/26/04) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- While Amendment 3 foes point out that moving money out of general revenue and into transportation will leave less money to go around for other state agencies than otherwise would be the case, there is precedent for the action...
MoDOT vote may cost other agencies
(09/19/04) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- If Missouri voters ratify Amendment 3 on Nov. 2, an estimated $160 million a year in existing revenue will eventually be redirected to the Missouri Department of Transportation. That money, however, will be pulled from the state's general fund, which is used to support most other state agencies, especially education and social services...
Amendment 3 would save funding for patrol, revenue dep't
(08/16/04) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The so-called diversion of revenue from highway user fees to state agencies other than the Missouri Department of Transportation is an issue that has vexed policy makers for years. While almost universally decried, little has been done about it...
Battle brewing over who gets fair share of highway money
(07/03/04) WASHINGTON -- The question of which states pay the most in gasoline taxes and which get the most money back is rekindling a perennial battle as Congress and the White House scuffle over a huge spending bill to finance highway and mass transit programs...
Legislation's sponsor says toll roads unlikely
(03/18/04) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- As he began presenting a bill that would allow toll roads and bridges in Missouri, state Rep. Lanie Black bluntly told a legislative committee that he knew once Wednesday's hearing was over there would be no further action on the matter during this election year...
Politicians rallying to end 'diversion' of road funds
(03/14/04) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Colleen Di Gregorio emerged from the Department of Revenue's motor vehicle office frustrated -- for a couple of reasons. First, she had to pay around $30 for new license plates for the Honda she had been driving for years because she transferred the title from her parents to herself...
Holden selections fill state highway board
(03/07/04) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Once he fills two openings on the Missouri State Highways and Transportation Commission, Gov. Bob Holden will have appointed nearly every member of one of the most powerful state boards. The six-member commission is the governing authority of the Missouri Department of Transportation and has constitutionally granted independence to make policy decisions largely free from interference by the governor or the Missouri Legislature...
Bond kicks off state 'Jobs Tour' with speech in Cape Girardeau
(02/20/04) U.S. Sen. Kit Bond urged the House on Thursday to act quickly to pass a federal highway bill, saying safer roads and thousands of jobs are at stake for Missouri. The Senate last week approved a new $318 billion, six-year federal transportation spending plan that includes increased road funding for Missouri, Bond said during a stop in Cape Girardeau to meet with local officials and business and labor union leaders...
Senate gives OK to amendment
(02/18/04) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Senate gave initial approval Tuesday to a proposed constitutional amendment that would ask voters to gradually reduce the diversion of state road funds to various state agencies. Eventually, the legislation would direct an additional $179 million annually to Missouri's roads and bridges. But it would start small, with $11 million in the first year, and does not provide a new funding source to replace the money lost by other parts of state government...
Highway bill faces rugged path in D.C.
(02/14/04) WASHINGTON -- The Senate's passage this week of a big highway spending bill was an important first hurdle, but a rugged journey in Congress lies ahead, during which the measure's impact on Missouri could change drastically. Missouri's two senators, Republicans Kit Bond and Jim Talent, are strong supporters of the legislation...
Senate OKs $318 billion highway bill
(02/13/04) WASHINGTON -- Defying a presidential veto threat, the Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a highway spending bill that would bring jobs and billions of dollars in new construction money to states across the country. The Republican-controlled Senate voted 76-21 to pass a six-year, $318 billion highway and mass transit spending bill, replacing the current six-year program that expires at the end of this month. The vote margin would be enough to override a possible presidential veto...
House extends road programs by four months
(02/12/04) WASHINGTON -- With a highway construction bill making little progress and shadowed by a veto threat, the House moved Wednesday to extend the current highway program through June. The 421-0 vote in the House came as the Senate struggled to complete work on its $318 billion bill to fund highway, public transit and safety programs through 2009. The last six-year bill, funded at $218 billion, expired in 2003, but has been extended until the end of February...
MoDOT - New revenue needed
(01/29/04) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- While characterizing the condition of Missouri's transportation system as sound, state transportation director Henry Hungerbeeler on Wednesday told lawmakers it is still inadequate to serve the needs of the state. However, Hungerbeeler suggested no overall plan to significantly increase transportation funding, but he did suggest toll roads and seat belt fines as means for generating new revenue -- an issue lawmakers almost universally acknowledge needs to be resolved to substantially upgrade the system.. ...
Road commission issues apology for dropping '92 plan
(01/17/04) 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...
Toll roads again sought as option for Missouri
(01/15/04) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- While sponsoring legislation that would allow the construction of toll roads and bridges, state Rep. Lanie Black says he isn't certain Missourians are ready to embrace the idea. But with voters seemingly hostile to tax increases, as evidenced by the resounding statewide defeat of a transportation tax package in 2002, Black says there aren't many funding options left for pursuing certain costly road and bridge projects...
MoDOT accountability measure has potential constitutional flaw
(12/14/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- While a new state law lengthened the current terms for five of the six members of the State Highways and Transportation Commission, the Missouri Constitution generally forbids extending the terms of public officers. The extensions resulted from a last-minute overhaul of legislation intended to improve accountability at the Department of Transportation...
MoDOT director plans to resign from position
(12/03/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- While proud of reforms implemented at the Missouri Department of Transportation under his leadership, Henry Hungerbeeler on Tuesday said he decided public perception of the embattled agency might improve if he stepped down as director...
Altering highway fee diversion goes slowly
(11/23/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- With highway user fees generating nearly $1.2 billion a year, Department of Transportation director Henry Hungerbeeler says motorists -- who on average pay $300 a year each in such fees -- often question why the agency claims it lacks the finances to do more to improve state roads...
MoDOT urges legislative action on tort reform
(11/20/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Weighing in on the politically controversial issue of tort reform might carry some risks for the Missouri Department of Transportation, but highways commissioner Duane Michie said the need for change is too great to ignore. Michie said MoDOT is forced to pay millions of dollars each year on legal settlements, even in cases where the department is found only peripherally at fault. ...
MoDOT endorses legal reforms as lawsuit costs rise
(11/06/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Department of Transportation officials say tort reform is needed to reduce the agency's litigation costs for savings that could be shifted to road construction. Chief operating officer Pat Goff said MoDOT settles claims when it is legitimately at fault, but it is often targeted in litigation as the party with the deepest pockets...
Highway officials fail on following advice in report
(11/05/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The state Highways and Transportation Commission received a public panel's report Tuesday on how to improve its credibility with state residents but passed over its first opportunity to publicly apologize for dropping a 1992 highway plan... 
MoDOT head apologizes for broken promises
(10/23/03)KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's transportation chief apologized for failing to meet commitments made by the Department of Transportation more than a decade ago but blamed some of that on inadequate state funding. Henry Hungerbeeler, director of MoDOT, visited Kansas City and Odessa on Tuesday as part of a 14-city "MoDOT Listens to Missouri" tour. Turnout in both cities was sparse...
Panel says state transportation agency needs public confession
(09/30/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri's transportation department needs to publicly confess its error in abandoning a 1992 road plan and then develop a new statewide transportation strategy that includes completion of the long-promised projects, according to a draft report compiled Monday by a citizens' advisory panel...
MoDOT's Hungerbeeler responds to criticism
(08/29/03) CHILLICOTHE, Mo. -- Days after State Auditor Claire McCaskill called for his resignation, Missouri Department of Transportation director Henry Hungerbeeler defended his department Thursday during a speech delivered while visiting northern Missouri for a highway dedication ceremony...
State auditor says transportation chief needs to quit post
(08/27/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State Auditor Claire McCaskill is calling for the resignation of the Missouri Department of Transportation director and for the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission to be abolished. McCaskill, who was reacting to a recent series of stories in The Kansas City Star newspaper, said in a story published in The Star's Tuesday edition that improvements needed to be made in the department...
Senator asks feds for $200 million for state highway funding
(08/07/03) CLAYTON, Mo. -- Sen. Kit Bond hopes to secure $200 million per year more for Missouri's roads and highways in the next federal highway bill, the Republican said Wednesday. Bond spoke to a group of civic and political leaders at Clayton High School, where he hosted a Transportation Town Hall Forum...
Road responsibility changes create challenge
(07/09/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Turning over responsibility for 25 percent of the state highway system to local governments could prove a tough sell for the Missouri Department of Transportation. MoDOT is pursuing the possibility of transferring ownership of 8,050 miles of state highways to cities and counties. But department officials acknowledge that local leaders will have to be convinced the idea is beneficial to all parties in order for the plan to go anywhere...
MoDOT wants to cut down miles to maintain
(07/03/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri transportation officials will begin pursuing the possibility of transferring ownership of one-fourth of the road miles in the state highway system to cities and counties. With 32,400 miles, Missouri's state highway system is larger than those in any of its neighboring states and among the biggest in the nation. ...
Bond - State may have to consider road tolls to pay for repairs
(05/29/03) KIRKWOOD, Mo. -- Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., on Wednesday said Missouri and other states might have to consider toll roads to help pay for overhauling the aging interstate highway system. He said the need for road repair and construction outstrips federal resources...
Transportation bond proposed by Talent
(05/29/03) If the federal government agrees to issue $50 billion in a new bond program, it would help mend the country's ailing transportation system with intended side effects of creating jobs, boosting the economy and saving lives by improving transportation safety...
Chambers differ on improving MoDOT
(04/07/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The two chambers of the Missouri Legislature are pursuing substantially different approaches in their efforts to improve the sullied public image of the Missouri Department of Transportation. While the House of Representatives last week passed a bill that would increase legislative oversight over the agency and give lawmakers a direct say in the selection of MoDOT's independent governing board, the Senate prefers a far less intrusive approach...
House lawmakers give initial approval to MoDOT changes
(04/03/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The House gave initial approval Wednesday to legislation that would create a new inspector general's position to check up on the Missouri Department of Transportation. The bill does away with MoDOT's internal inspector general, who investigates everything from employee grievances to criminal allegations, and establishes an inspector general who would report to the legislature...
Proposed changes to highway commission aim to end patronage
(03/13/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- To state Rep. Lanie Black, seats on the powerful Missouri State Highways and Transportation Commission are almost patronage positions. Although the six-member panel is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, the governor appoints all its members. Seats reserved for the opposite party tend to go to those who lean toward the party of the governor, said Black, R-Charleston...
County looks at road-maintenance costs
(03/12/03) Like so many other areas in state government, the Missouri Department of Transportation is searching for ways to trim the fat. In this case, MoDOT is looking at asking Missouri's counties to maintain their own lettered state roads that range from Route A to Route Z...
No support for toll roads, MoDOT says
(03/08/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Winning the constitutional authority to build toll roads -- a top priority of the Missouri Department of Transportation -- appears to have little support in the Missouri Legislature. After voters overwhelmingly rejected a tax increase for transportation last summer, department officials decided to focus on the issue of toll roads. ...
Transportation chairman criticizes proposed changes to agency
(03/08/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Proposals to revamp Missouri's transportation department would benefit politicians, not the public, says the chairman of the Missouri State Highways and Transportation Commission. Chairman Ollie Gates took aim Friday at proposals backed both by Democratic Gov. Bob Holden and by Republican Sen. Jon Dolan, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee...
State transportation advisory panel convenes for first time
(01/29/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- An advisory panel charged with recommending improvements in the state's transportation department convened for the first time Tuesday. And it was clear that some members aren't pleased with the way things now work. Although the meeting was intended to provide the panel an overview of the transportation department, at least one member entered the meeting seeking to abolish the agency's current administrative structure...
Holden's tighter tax exemption would cost truckers
(01/28/03) Dave Rollet says Gov. Bob Holden's proposal of ending what he calls a trucking industry tax loophole would do a good deal more than hurt his Perryville, Mo.-based transportation company. "It would kill us," said Rollet of Rollet Brothers, a small trucking company that runs about 40 tractor-trailers. "It would really break us, with fuel costs the way they are and the economy the way it is, it would be just enormous."...
House majority may have cooled on MoDOT change
(01/22/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- While the minority party in the House of Representatives, Republicans called for weakening the constitutional independence of the Missouri Department of Transportation by giving the governor the power to hire and fire its director...
MoDOT switches emphasis to maintenance
(01/20/03) People in Southeast Missouri may take some pleasure from the Missouri State Highways and Transportation Commission's latest decision on a funding split -- between rural areas such as ours and the urban areas of St. Louis and Kansas City -- slightly favors the rural areas...
Governor looking to lessen authority of state commission
(01/16/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden wants to expand Missouri's highway commission while weakening its authority, and he urged lawmakers Wednesday to make the state's top transportation official answer directly to the governor. "The public must know who to hold accountable," Holden told a joint Legislative session during his annual State of the State speech, keeping up his criticism about the credibility of the Department of Transportation...
MoDOT drops urban-rural funding policy
(01/11/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Rural communities will receive a slightly larger percentage of funds for roads and bridges from a new policy adopted Friday by the Missouri State Highways and Transportation Commission. The new plan, which won't take full effect until mid-2006, replaces a 1998 policy that automatically earmarked half of the road and bridge budget for St. Louis and Kansas City area projects and the remainder for those in the rest of Missouri...
Transportation tax increase unlikely
(01/10/03) By Marc Powers ~ Southeast Missourian JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Though a top issue in the General Assembly in recent years, a significant tax increase for transportation is unlikely to make much progress in the current legislative session, key lawmakers said Thursday...
Funding parity becomes issue in state transportation debate
(01/08/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- In a speech last month on the new federal highway bill he will play a pivotal role in drafting, U.S. Sen. Kit Bond said that Missouri currently gets back only 91 cents for every dollar it pays into the federal transportation trust fund...
St. Louis groups oppose change in road funding split
(01/07/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- With state transportation officials poised to choose a funding-distribution plan to replace the current 50-50 split between urban and rural areas, representatives from the St. Louis region on Monday made a last-ditch appeal to preserve the size of their slice of the transportation pie...
Senator trying to limit hopes on highway bill
(01/06/03) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- U.S. Sen. Kit Bond may be in a better position this year to help boost Missouri's ailing transportation system, but the former Republican governor isn't promising the world. And even if Bond is able to bleed more money out of Congress, that could put more pressure on cash-strapped Missouri to match incoming federal funds...
Changes in road policies offered in new bills
(12/15/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Scrapping the independent Missouri State Highways and Transportation Commission in favor of a transportation chief directly accountable to the governor is among the many proposed constitutional changes lawmakers will consider next year...
Bond has key role in federal highway funding
(12/14/02) It's an exciting time in Missouri transportation history -- or, at least, it has the potential to be. U.S. Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri will chair the Senate subcommittee charged with writing a bill to distribute up to $33 billion in federal transportation dollars over six years to the states. Ostensibly, his powerful role on the committee could swing a few more dollars Missouri's way...
Road money fight not easy, Bond says
(12/13/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- When U.S. Sen. Kit Bond earned what he called the "dubious distinction" of being involved in the last fistfight on the Senate floor, it was during heated debate on a highway funding bill. "It is, I hope, the last time we come to blows over highways. But I tell you, it is going to be close this year," Bond said of the coming effort to draft new federal highways legislation...
Sen. Bond visit puts attention on money for roads
(12/07/02) Missourians likely will see more tax dollars returned to the state from the nation's new highway transportation bill thanks to U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, chairman of the Senate subcommittee writing it. Bond is asking residents for their ideas about spending federal transportation dollars. As part of a six-city tour, he visited Cape Girardeau Friday afternoon for a meeting at the Osage Community Centre. Earlier in the day he visited St. Louis and St. Joseph...
Panel will review MoDOT credibility, make suggestions
(12/07/02) LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission is setting up a panel of outsiders to scrutinize the Department of Transportation's credibility and reputation -- and recommend how to improve both. The outside review announced Friday follows August's lopsided voter rejection of a proposed transportation tax increase and years of criticism of the department's stewardship of road-building funds...
MoDOT chief gets guidelines for job performance
(12/07/02) LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- Henry Hungerbeeler, to some a leader in reform, to others a symbol of shortcomings at the Missouri Department of Transportation, will remain as the agency's director -- but he must meet certain goals and guidelines. "I am very satisfied with Henry's performance," Ollie Gates, chairman of the state Highways and Transportation Commission, said Friday, one day after a four-hour closed meeting during which the six commissioners met with Hungerbeeler...
Sen. Bond to seek input on roads across Missouri
(12/05/02) Southeast Missourian Missouri is poised to receive a better share of federal money for road improvements and construction with Sen. Kit Bond's leadership as chairman of a Senate subcommittee on transportation. But residents have to speak out about the problems and needs around the state first...
Performance of MoDOT chief to be evaluated
(12/04/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The job performance of state transportation director Henry Hungerbeeler will be under the microscope Thursday during a closed meeting of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. Transportation officials said Tuesday that Hungerbeeler would be evaluated on about a half-dozen performance goals established late this summer...
MoDOT should do what's best for all
(12/01/02) For more than four years, highway funding has been a major topic in Missouri. Finding revenue for the state's highways, bridges and other transportation needs has always been a major budget consideration. But when the Missouri Department of Transportation decided in 1998 that a six-cent increase in the state fuel tax wasn't enough to pay for an ambitious 15-year highway plan adopted in 1992, the future of Missouri's highways became a major concern...
MoDOT struggles with credibility, accountability
(12/01/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Casting blame on the Missouri Department of Transportation has become sport in the state Capitol. The mantra from various groups and individuals upset about the poor overall condition of the state highway system is MoDOT lacks "credibility" or "accountability." The two terms often are used interchangeably...
MoDOT- Urban-rural split unintended
(11/24/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- As Missouri Department of Transportation officials tell the story, they never intended to distribute road construction funds on a geographic basis. But after the department's ambitious 15-year plan was finalized in 1992, someone did the math and discovered that 60 percent of MoDOT's spending on road-and-bridge projects would be done in rural Missouri and the remainder in the St. Louis and Kansas City regions...
Highway funding - Opportunity for reform
(11/22/02) Thanks to a combination of a failed state highway program and the current state budget squeeze, Missourians are learning details about the Missouri Department of Transportation and how revenue from highway funding sources are being used that never mattered much before...
Missouri commission gives date for road-funding decision
(11/21/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State transportation commissioners plan to decide in January whether to change a road funding formula that has resulted in a contentious split among the interests of big cities and rural areas. Since 1998, half of the state's road funds have been directed to the St. Louis and Kansas City areas and the other half has been divided among the rest of the state...
Trust in MoDOT continues to be elusive
(11/20/02) Any official who says "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help" is generally looking for a laugh. Rarely does anyone who hears such a remark believe someone from government is really going to do what they say. It's an old punch line, one based on years of government bumbling, bureaucratic red tape, costly operations, mountainous paperwork and more than a few broken promises made in the heat of a political campaign...
Stoddard County disputes claim of reports not being filed
(11/20/02) BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Townships in Stoddard County do report their financial statements regularly, a township treasurer told Stoddard County commissioners at their meeting Monday. The reason for what became a heated discussion came from an Associated Press story which ran in several newspapers over the weekend. ...
Millions of dollars for roads bypass MoDOT
(11/17/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- For every $1 paid to the state in highway user fees, the Missouri Department of Transportation gets only 61 cents. MoDOT director Henry Hungerbeeler said most Missourians believe the department receives every penny of the approximately $1.16 billion in annual revenue from fuel taxes, levies on motor-vehicles sales and license and registration fees to spend on road and bridge construction. ...
Most townships fail to comply with law on reporting finances
(11/16/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Barely 6 percent of Missouri's townships that administer road programs have complied with a state law requiring they file financial statements with the Missouri Department of Transportation. Until recently, little attention had been given to the requirement, which dates to the early 1900s and affects townships in 22 mostly rural counties...
Kit Bond to have control over writing of road bill
(11/16/02) WASHINGTON -- Missouri Sen. Kit Bond is moving into a key chairmanship that will give him control over next year's multibillion dollar federal highway bill. Bond said Thursday he will oversee the transportation subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee next year, when Republicans take majority control of the Senate...
Transportation department touts its accountability
(11/09/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- In search of a better public image, the state transportation department is touting its accountability in an annual report prepared for state lawmakers. The report released Friday says the Missouri Department of Transportation completed 206 projects last fiscal year at a total cost of $594 million -- about 1 percent less than had been estimated...
Band-Aid fix can't replace chemotherapy
(11/09/02) To the editor: In response to the editorial "MoDOT starts thinking outside the box": Let me see if I understand this. If our highways were a major fire that threatened the lives and businesses of the state, you would suggest that the state fire marshal buy a garden hose, but not sufficient equipment to put out the fire. A little tax to put a Band-Aid on the cancer of bad roads is OK, but not the chemotherapy needed to cure the problem. Oh, the vision of the right. It's so inspiring...
MoDOT starts thinking outside the box
(11/07/02) The Missouri Department of Transportation is looking at some ideas that would produce more revenue for highways and other transportation needs. Some of these ideas might be called thinking outside the box, but it's that kind of thinking the department needs right now...
Highway board approves new five-year plan
(11/01/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The State Highways and Transportation Commission on Thursday decided to approve the latest version of its five-year road construction plan without specifying projects for the fifth year. Since dropping its ambitious 15-year plan in 1998, the Department of Transportation has operated on rolling five-year plans. ...
Bridge plan may be delayed by lack of funds
(10/26/02) ST. LOUIS -- New state funds for an Interstate 70 bridge over the Mississippi River at St. Louis would be delayed until after 2008 under a proposal before the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. The proposal sent to commissioners Thursday was part of a five-year spending blueprint whose main goals are to maintain the existing network of highways and bridges and finish projects already on the books. ...
New fuel tax without input from voters put forward
(10/26/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A state highways commissioner has floated the possibility of asking the General Assembly to pass a limited fuel-tax increase without seeking voter approval. Commissioner Bill McKenna of Crystal City said adding a couple of cents to the state's existing 17-cent tax on a gallon of fuel would provide a dedicated funding stream to help pay off the bonds the Missouri Department of Transportation issued in recent years to help jump-start its construction program. ...
State commission delays update to five-year road plan
(10/25/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The state transportation commission is delaying a regular update to its five-year road plan because of the defeat of a proposed tax increase and continued debate over how to divide future road money. Commissioners acknowledged Thursday they could take some criticism for once again saying they would do something and then not following through...
St. Louis leaders press area's case for road money
(10/05/02) CLAYTON, Mo. -- The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission postponed a discussion of a new way to allocate highway money as St. Louis leaders objected Friday to any formula that would reduce funding for their region. "If they want the support of the St. Louis region for future efforts, they can't continuously slap us in the face," said St. Louis County Executive Buzz Westfall. "We're not asking for a larger slice of the pie. We're asking that our slice remain the same."...
St. Louis interests blast split in road funding
(10/05/02) CLAYTON, Mo. -- It's back to the drawing board on a new policy for distributing state transportation funds after St. Louis-area interests on Friday blasted proposals they said would unfairly strip the region of revenue for the benefit of rural Missouri...
Highway funding should remain high priority
(09/22/02) It is not surprising that the Missouri Department of Transportation has decided to cancel right-of-way purchases and design work for some 300 projects planned beyond 2007. With the failure of Proposition B in August, MoDOT is adjusting to the fact that there won't be money to build those projects, unless new revenue sources are secured...
MoDOT kills 13 projects in Southeast Missouri area
(09/19/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Improvements to Highway 34 and 12 other Southeast Missouri road and bridge projects have been shelved indefinitely as the state Department of Transportation scales back on long-range planning in favor of addressing more immediate needs...
MoDOT puts brakes on long-term road projects
(09/18/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Following voter defeat of a proposed tax increase, the state transportation department is canceling or delaying contracts on more than 300 long-range road projects because of a lack of money. The cutbacks on right-of-way purchases and engineering designs are estimated to save $120 million, which instead will be spent over the next four years on maintaining Missouri's existing roads, the department said Tuesday...
Blame game - Highways need real solutions
(09/17/02) The Missouri Department of Transportation's director, Henry Hungerbeeler, picking and choosing his words with great care, called it "unusual." The Republican chairman of the Senate transportation committee, Sen. Morris Westfall of Halfway, Mo., says it was questionable...
Holden pointing blame at MoDOT
(09/16/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Bob Holden appears to have taken a new approach on transportation -- and found a new target on which to place blame. In 2001, the Democratic governor proposed his own transportation funding plan to the legislature, then blamed a few Senate Republicans when it was spiked...
State candidates question credibility of MoDOT; director defend
(09/14/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri statehouse hopefuls on Friday gave Department of Transportation officials an earful concerning the agency's credibility problem with voters. However, MoDOT director Henry Hungerbeeler defended the department's recent record of delivering promised projects and said its poor image is partly a product of faulty public perception...
Gov. Holden tells MoDOT to get moving on restoring public trust
(09/07/02) SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Transportation commissioners need to re-evaulate leadership within the Missouri Department of Transportation and become more accountable to the public, Gov. Bob Holden said Friday. Commissioners and department director Henry Hungerbeeler said they were unclear what the governor hoped to accomplish. ...
Spend highway dollars where needed most
(09/01/02) It's one thing to raise the revenue needed to build roads and bridges and maintain those already in existence. If Proposition B, a plan to raise sales and fuel taxes, had been approved last month, where to spend the extra revenue would have been guided by project lists developed prior to the Aug. 6 vote...
MoDOT will seek funding options for transportation
(08/26/02) To the editor: I would like to thank the Southeast Missourian for its support of Proposition B. I know it was difficult to favor a tax increase. Yet you recognized that "good highways are vital to this state" and that to "keep what we have in good repair as well as adding major projects" will require new funding sources...
MoDOT to drop urban, rural criteria as funding basis
(08/25/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- For four years, state transportation officials have endured intense criticism from around the state for their policy of dividing available funds for road and bridge construction evenly between urban and rural areas. Spurred in part by overwhelming voter rejection this month of a transportation tax package, that policy is slated to be dropped...
Hearnes - Special transport session needed
(08/22/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A former Missouri governor says the state's current chief executive should call a lame-duck session of the General Assembly after the November elections to develop an acceptable transportation tax plan to submit to voters. Warren E. ...
Angry voters, or just distrustful?
(08/18/02) KENNETT, Mo. -- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has expressed the interesting concept that Missourians overwhelmingly rejected Proposition B on Aug. 6 because they were angry at just about everyone from state highway engineers to fraudulent corporate presidents...
State takes look at using toll roads
(08/13/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Someday, a one-way trip on Interstate 55 from Cape Girardeau to Festus could cost a $4 toll. With voters' overwhelming rejection last week of a $483 million tax increase to help improve roads and bridges, the Missouri Department of Transportation is renewing efforts to secure the legal authority to build a system of toll roads...
Southeast Missouri vote leads defeat of road taxes
(08/11/02) By Marc Powers ~ Southeast Missourian JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- While Proposition B proved a massive bust throughout the state, the animosity from Southeast Missourians to the $483 million tax increase for transportation was unmatched by voters in any other region...
Independence passes local transportation tax
(08/11/02) INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Several years had passed since a transportation tax was enacted with a long list of specific projects it was expected to fund. Now it was time to ask for more money. And voters were presented another long list of projects their tax dollars would build...
Voters in no mood for tax increases
(08/11/02) Voters in last week's elections were anything but wishy-washy about new taxes: No! Two statewide tax proposals were defeated by wide margins. Proposition A would have allowed a monthly tax on cell-phone bills to fund 911 systems so they could pinpoint the location of emergency calls from cell phones. Proposition B would have increased both the state sales tax and the state fuel tax, with nearly half a billion dollars a year earmarked for transportation projects...
Roads need more than Prop B offered
(08/10/02) By Rod Jetton MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- This week opponents in Missouri soundly defeated Proposition B with 73 percent of the vote. Proposition B was a $511 million tax plan that was put on the ballot by the state legislature. It included a half-cent sales tax and a 4-cent gas tax...
Voters still want MoDOT to honor highway promises
(08/10/02) To the editor: Aug. 6 was a great day for Missouri. Despite all of the Missouri Department of Transportation scare tactics and guilt trips, voters said no to Proposition B. MoDOT officials asked for our trust. They wanted us to forgive them for the failure of the 15-year plan and promised that, if Missourians passed Proposition B, they would make improvements. MoDOT just doesn't get it...
No-cost action plan for highways
(08/09/02) By Pat Martin ST. LOUIS -- No on "B" congratulates the people of Missouri for defeating Proposition B. This is a victory for tax justice and good transportation policy. During this campaign, No on "B" repeatedly advised voters to vote no and demand a better transportation plan for all Missourians. ...
Toll roads appear an option for Missouri
(08/09/02) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Following the overwhelming defeat of a tax plan by voters, transportation commissioners on Thursday expressed a renewed interest in pushing for tolls as a way to fund some roads and bridges. Their discussion came after what they described as the disappointing defeat Tuesday of Proposition B, which would have raised around $500 million annually through higher state fuel and sales taxes...
Prop B fails; supporters blame economy
(08/07/02)
Despite a $3.5 million campaign and a generally acknowledged need for better roads, a proposal to raise Missouri's fuel and sales taxes for transportation failed badly in Tuesday's election. Proposition B was failing by nearly a 3-to-1 margin with more than half of all precincts reporting results statewide. The "no" chorus was strong in almost every county... |