May 22, 2012

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I-70 toll road proposal introduced (AUDIO)

February 7, 2012 By

Jefferson City Senator Mike Kehoe, a former member of the sate transportation commission, has introduced legislation letting the transpiration department explore public0private partnerships to rebuild Interstate 70. Some advocates would let the private company that rebuilds the road charge tolls for decades to make up the costs and earn a profit.

Kehoe says the legislature needs to be thinking of things like this to finance rebuilding and maintaining 70 and other parts of the state system.

His plan would have the public-private partnership rebuild I-70 from the Interstate 64/Highway 40 intersection in eastern Missouri to Interstate 470 that goes around Kansas City.

Supporters say this approach would rebuild the highway in a much shorter time than the present financing system would allow. Critics say the tolls would be the equivalent of a three-dollar a gallon fuel tax increase and would hurt businesses along today’s highway

  AUDIO: Kehoe in senate 1:02

Filed Under: Featured, Human Interest, News, Transportation

Convenience stores wary of I-70 toll road talk (AUDIO)

January 20, 2012 By

Talk about turning Interstate 70 into a toll road as the only way to pay for rebuidling it has some roadside business people jumpy.

Convenience store operators figure toll roads are not their friends. And the transportation department’s talk about having a private company turn I-70 into a toll road bothers the convenience store industry. Although the department talks about a system that would not eliminate any of the exits, convenience store representatives like Ron Leone worry about what the final contract would be.

AUDIO: Leone  :18  mp3

He says he almost fell out of his chair when he heard transportation department director Kevin Keith say as much as ten percent of the truck traffic that now uses 70 would like move to non-toll highways. He says that would be a major blow to the businesses he represents.

Joplin resident Joel Hamilton represents a company that has a major truck stop in Joplin and another one on I-70 at Oak Grove. He voices similar fears.

AUDIO: Hamilton  :10  mp3

An open system would retain the current interstate exit and entrance ramps. A closed system would limit access and exits–the turnpikes in Kansas and Oklahoma, for examples.

Hamilton argues toll roads also could hurt a lot of other people, not just operators like his company has.

AUDIO: Hamilton  :27  mp3

Legislators are considering law changes that would let the department contract with a private company to build and run I-70. Some critics of the idea question whether a public vote would be needed on a constitutional change clearing the way for that kind of contract. Keith says the department’s lawyers already have looked into that and feel no public vote would be needed.

Filed Under: Business, Featured, Human Interest, News, Transportation

Legislature moving to save federal highway funds (AUDIO)

January 19, 2012 By

Legislation getting tougher on drunk drivers and saving the state tens of millions of dollars is one step away from clearing the Missouri Senate and going to the House.  .

Senators have advanced a bill bringing Missouri’s drunk driving and commercial drivers license laws into federal compliance.  Transportation Chairman Bill Stouffer of Napton says the DWI law change will keep road-building money from being spent on safety. Sixteen million dollars that otherwise would be used for roads and bridges will be diverted to highway safety projects if the legislature does not pass the changes in state law by the end of the month.   The state will lose an additional $30 million in this fiscal year and $60 million in federal road construction money in succeeding fiscal years if it does not approve changes in the commercial drivers license laws by the same deadline. 

Federal officials say Missouri’s law allowing judges and the revenue department to grant driving privileges is too lenient.  The state also has to require people with CDLs to have their health records used to get their licenses put online.  The state also cannot expunge records of drunk driving or failure to appear for court dates or other offenses from the driving records of CDL holders. 

The bill (SB443) will go to the House next week.

 AUDIO: Senate debate 37:32 mp3                                           

 

Filed Under: Human Interest, News, Transportation

I-70 toll road proposal raises legal questions (AUDIO)

January 19, 2012 By

A state transportation department proposal to rebuild Interstate 70 by making it a toll road brings out some pointed legal questions.  Transportation Department director Kevin Keith says 1-70 is almost sixty years old, well beyond the 25 years it was expected to last before rebuilding.  He says it’s going to cost two to six-billion dollars to rebuild and expand it as a modern road.

                                 AUDIO  Keith  :09 mp3   

He and members of a joint legislative transportation oversight committee think voters don’t want a gas tax increase to pay for the work.  The department tells legislators it them to change state law so it can contract with a private company to pay for the rebuilding. The company would get its money back by turning 70 into a toll road, and doing so quickly.

                           AUDIO  Keith  :20 mp3

But critics charge the toll amounts to a four-billion dollar tax that will require a public vote. Missouri Trucking Association President Tom Crawford It’s a “very dangerous public policy” to let a private company tax motorists through highway tolls.

                             AUDIO: Crawford  :23  mp3

And Triple-A’s Mike Right says the plan sets up an unequal tax system. 

                                  AUDIO Right  :23  mp3

Another critic says the proposal allows a private entity to, in effect, tax motorists. Ron Leone, who heads the Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores Association, says the legislature should not transfer some of its powers to the state highways and transportation commission.

                                        AUDIO: Leone  :29   mp3

Keith says department lawyers are sure the private partnership procurement effort would not require voter approval.   The legislature will have to change some laws before the effort can go ahead. 

 

Filed Under: Featured, Miscellaneous, News, Transportation

Senate pushes DWI law overhaul to keep federal funding

January 12, 2012 By

A senate committee has approved a measure that puts stricter limits on hardship licenses increases revocation times. When a person loses their license as a result of driving while intoxicated, they lose their license. In Missouri, it’s for for weeks. Federal requirements say it should be six “so that certain repeat offenders will not be eligible for a limited driving privilege until such person has completed the first 45 days of the revocation.”

Senator Bill Stouffer of Napton has a bill that would put Missouri’s intoxication-related traffic offenses in line with federal requirements, thereby preserving millions of dollars in federal funding for highways.

When Missouri drivers lose their license because of a DWI, they can get a hardship license, which lets them drive to — according to current law – a business, occupation or employment; medical treatment; school;  alcohol or drug treatment programs; an ignition interlock provider for required service; and other circumstances the court or the department finds would create an undue hardship. Stouffer says the federal government says the courts can’t have that kind of flexibility in DWI cases … it’s the “other circumstances the court finds would create an undue hardship” the federal government doesn’t like. Stouffer’s law would remove that provision.

Stouffer’s bill would also increase community service hours required for repeat offenders.

Also, current law allows prior offenders to participate in and successfully complete a DWI court in lieu of jail time or community service. Federal law, however, does not authorize DWI courts as an alternative to mandatory jail or community service. Stouffer’s measure would let prior and persistent offenders avoid the minimum days of imprisonment by performing community service and completing a DWI court program, and the DWI court program or other treatment program must include a certain number of community service hours.

Filed Under: Legislature, News, Politics & Government, Transportation
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