The Hwy. 30 bridges over Saline Creek in unincorporated Fenton may be replaced after the Missouri General Assembly passed a $301 million bonding plan to provide money to address 215 bridges around the state.
State Rep. Becky Ruth (R-Festus), who handled the legislation in the House of Representatives, said the two bridges, which carry eastbound and westbound traffic over the creek, is the county’s only project involved in the legislation.
Statewide, the measure funds 215 bridge projects; another 35 bridges will be addressed through a $50 million allocation through the state’s general revenue budget.
The Saline Creek/Hwy. 30 project is estimated to cost $4.1 million.
However, Ruth, who just wrapped up her first year of a two-year term as the chair of the House’s transportation committee, said Jefferson County stands to gain more if the bonds are issued and the long list of bridge upgrades are moved off of the Missouri Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT) Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) long-term priority list.
“Because those projects will be taken off the STIP, other projects will move up. We feel we can make a strong case that the expansion of I-55 (to three lanes in both directions) from Pevely to south of Festus should be moved up,” Ruth said.
Bonds not for sure
However, Ruth and Sen. Gary Romine (R-Farmington), whose 3rd District includes Jefferson County, said the bond funding isn’t a certainty.
Romine is vice chairman of the Senate’s transportation, infrastructure and public safety committee.
Whether the state issues the bonds to pay for the bridge projects is contingent upon the state landing a federal grant that will help pay for a replacement of the I-70 bridge near Rocheport west of Columbia.
“My confidence level of that happening is high,” said Romine, who will enter his last year as the committee vice chairman next year, because he cannot run for a third four-year term in 2020. “Getting that grant will trigger the bond funds.”
To some extent, Ruth said, whether the bonds will be issued will depend on how much the state receives for the I-70 bridge. It has requested $174 million for the project.
“If we only get, say, $20 million, MoDOT will not be able to move forward (with the bonds),” Ruth said. “The grant award will have to be substantially more than that. But it’s imperative that this bridge (I-70) is replaced. Our alternative is to repair it, and in another 10 years it’s going to have to be replaced anyway, at a higher cost.”
If the bonds are issued, Ruth said, they will be repaid over seven years through allocations from the state’s general revenue budget.
“We’ll get a 2.1 percent interest rate, which is lower than the construction inflation rate of 3 percent,” she said. “If we put off replacing these bridges any longer, it will cost us more to do so in the future.”
Funding mechanism is not ideal
Romine said paying for bridge improvements out of the general revenue budget is not an ideal way to go, but conceded that something had to be done after Missouri voters in November 2018 defeated a proposed 10-cent increase to the state’s fuel tax from 17 cents to 27 cents, that would have been phased in over several years.
“Paying out of general revenue is not the way we should be paying for roads and bridges, but we figured we just have to bite the bullet on this,” Romine said of his fellow legislators. “I believe that our roads and bridges are in peril, and we have to do something immediately.”
Romine said the legislation to issue the bonds is important, but won’t fix everything.
“We have to figure out a way to bring more money into MoDOT’s budget,” he said. “The last increase to the fuel tax was in 1996, so we’re trying to fix 2019’s problems using money from 1996 standards. It’s not working.”
He said he believed that voters should get the chance to decide on a new fuel tax ballot issue.
“I believe (the November 2018 ballot issue) confused voters,” he said. “There were amendments involving the Highway Patrol and the Special Olympics, and that clouded the issue. I think we should put forth a straightforward tax for roads and bridges. Certainly people who drive our roads should understand the need.”
Ruth, however, said she doesn’t believe a tax increase would be prudent.
“Certainly we’ve heard from the people, and they don’t want gas taxes or sales taxes to pay for roads,” she said. “We have to look at other ways to come up with the money, to think out of the box.
“Several of us have been talking about alternative funding sources. I’m still doing the research, so I don’t want to discuss them now, but I hope to introduce legislation next year.”
Both don’t want to pursue toll roads
Both legislators said they don’t believe that introducing toll roads to Missouri is a viable solution.
“Toll roads are an option, but I’d prefer to avoid them,” Romine said. “They slow traffic down, and make it harder for mom-and-pop, brick-and-mortar stores along the routes – such as restaurants and convenience stores – to do business. People in Missouri have overwhelmingly come out against having toll roads.”
Ruth said she didn’t like toll roads for many of the same reasons, but said there are alternatives.
“I’d like us to consider the idea of express lanes,” she said.
For a fee, motorists would be allowed to drive in one lane of a highway, typically the left, she said. Devices could be placed in vehicles to ensure that only those who pay use the lanes, so toll booths would not be necessary.
“Where express lanes are used, they’re a public-private partnership where the state recovers some of the fee,” she said. “A lot of states are going to these. So that might be an option.
“But we need to look at every option. What we do know is that what we’re doing now is not sustainable.”
Romine said he expects legislation that would enact 2-cent increases each year for the next three years to the gasoline tax without a public vote will come up again.
“It wasn’t passed this year, but I expect it will be revived.
“I’d still favor a vote of the people,” he said. “I think a simple, straightforward ballot issue with education will work.”
Ruth said she didn’t support the idea of the General Assembly enacting a tax increase without a vote.
Romine said an idea that he championed, charging higher registration fees for electric cars, hybrids and other non-gasoline-powered vehicles, will be revived next year.
“We’re the only state left that charges our vehicle registration based on horsepower,” he said. “There were problems with the way it was written this year, so I let it die, but we’ve been talking with manufacturers about tweaks to it.
“There are issues to address with it, and I think we can fix those issues. I understand where someone who has an electric car would think, ‘I’m trying to do the right thing, by not burning fossil fuels, so why should I pay more?’ I get that, but at the same time, the owner of that electric car is using state roads and bridges and not paying for them with the gasoline tax. So something needs to be done.
“Maybe there’s another way. We’re charting new ground with new technology.”
Put 2 cents in on I-55
Ruth invited Jefferson County residents to give input to MoDOT on the concept of widening I-55.
The state is inviting public comment on its STIP through July 5 on its plan, which will run from 2020 through 2024. Comments can be submitted online through the modot.org website or by calling 1-888-275-6636.
“We need to let MoDOT know how important this project is to all of us,” she said.