Northeast Missouri Voters to Decide Again on Four-Lane Highway

Voters in some northeast Missouri counties will get the chance, again, to decide if they want a half-cent sales tax to go toward turning the 52 miles of Highway 36 between Macon and Hannibal into four lanes. Last April, voters in Marion, Macon, Shelby, and Monroe Counties approved the tax. But since Ralls County voters defeated it, it could not be spent on the project- although it would be collected in the four other counties. If voters approve the spending measure tomorrow, that area will kick in $43-Million of the $136-Million to do the project. Larry Craig with the U-S 36/I-72 Corridor Transportation Corporation dismisses complaints by the Missouri Farm Bureau that this sets a bad precedent that rural areas have to come up with local money to get the state to build roads in those areas. The State Transportation Department has promised to finish the project – by December of 2010 – if the measure is approved by the voters.