An Unusual Approach to Fixing I-70
Date Posted: July 20, 2015
Posted In: Ideas,
From emissourian.com: When you don’t have the money to move forward on a needed project, you might as well throw the quest for possible solutions for a “fix” into the wind and hope for a miracle. That’s what the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission has done in seeking ideas on how to solve the Interstate 70 dilemma.
The first interstate in the nation to cross a state to connect two metro areas — St. Louis and Kansas City — no one thought much about how it would be maintained or improved 60 years later. The approximately 250-mile highway needs repairs and is inadequate in sections due to increased traffic. It is an interstate that carries an overload of trucks from all sections of the country.
When it was built, Missouri was hailed nationally as a leader in highway construction. Now Missouri is way down on the list of states with favorable highways. Missouri has joined the list of “most wanted” states when it comes to finding solutions to its highway transportation needs. The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has done well in meeting highway needs with the resources available. With a low gasoline tax, failure to raise it or win approval of a sales tax to make I-70 a toll road, MoDOT has only enough resources to maintain it with a performance grade of D- due to a lack of funding.