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Kehoe: “We’ll see what Missourians think is the appropriate response” on transportation (AUDIO)

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The state’s lieutenant governor says Missourians will have to decide whether a gasoline tax increase is needed.

Missouri Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe (left) and Governor Mike Parson wave to supporters at Jefferson City’s Memorial Park on September 23, 2019 (photo courtesy of Kehoe campaign)

Missouri’s 17-cent gasoline tax has remained the same since 1996. Last November, voters rejected a proposed ten-cent gas tax increase.

At his campaign announcement last week at Jefferson City’s Memorial Park, Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe (R) told the audience that a long-term solution is needed for transportation. Missourinet asked him that night if a gas tax increase is on the table. Kehoe says Missourians will have to decide that.

“As you know, our Hancock Amendment prohibits the Legislature from coming up with that solution, that’s probably a good thing most days,” Kehoe says. “So we’ll see what Missourians think is the appropriate response.”

Missourians approved the Hancock Amendment in 1980. It’s named after the late Springfield businessman Mel Hancock, who was elected to Congress several years later. The Hancock Amendment essentially requires voter approval before taxes can be increased by lawmakers, beyond a certain annual limit.

Kehoe says a long-term solution is needed, for the safety of Missouri families and for the reliability of our businesses.

“When you have the (nation’s) seventh-largest infrastructure system and you’re 49th in funding, it doesn’t take long to figure out you need a long-term solution. We’re all willing to listen to what Missourians think is the most reasonable approach to that, and then we’ll figure it out,” says Kehoe.

Lieutenant Governor Kehoe campaigned for Proposition D, the proposed gas tax increase, last fall. He spoke in September 2018 at the 84th annual Missouri Municipal League (MML) conference in Branson.

“What the mayors here (at the Branson conference) understand is they couldn’t run their city budgets and Missourians couldn’t run their household budgets if they didn’t have any extra income for 22 years straight,” Kehoe said that day.

The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has said that if voters had approved Proposition D, it would have generated about $288 million annually in new road and bridge funding.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe, which was recorded on September 23, 2019 at Jefferson City’s Memorial Park:

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Flash flood watch in effect for parts of northern Missouri; severe storms also possible (AUDIO)

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The National Weather Service (NWS) in Pleasant Hill has issued a flash flood watch for parts of north-central and northwest Missouri, through Wednesday.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Pleasant Hill says isolated tornadoes and 60-mile per hour winds are possible today across far northwest Missouri (October 1, 2019 map courtesy of NWS Twitter page)

NWS meteorologist Chris Bowman says communities in the watch area have already been inundated with rainfall.

“Some of the cities would be St. Joseph, Maryville, Bethany and up to Atchison County, Missouri,” Bowman says.

The NWS says towns like Tarkio and Fairfax could receive three to four inches of additional rainfall, by Thursday. Northern Missouri communities like Bethany, Princeton and Unionville received four to six inches of rain this weekend.

The state Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT) traveler map shows 58 roads are currently closed due to flooding, primarily in northwest Missouri.

Mr. Bowman tells Missourinet this weather pattern is not typical for October.

“We’ve got a lot of moisture streaming northward. You can just walk outside and right away feel that it’s humid,” says Bowman.

The NWS in Pleasant Hill also says severe storms are possible Tuesday afternoon and evening in far northwest Missouri, with 60 mile per-hour wind gusts possible and an isolated tornado risk. Hail up to one inch is also possible.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Chris Bowman, which was recorded on October 1, 2019:

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Parson visits aging southwest Missouri bridge to tout bridge bonding

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(Reporter Ty Albright from Missourinet Joplin affiliate KZRG contributed to this story)

Missouri’s governor traveled to southwest Missouri’s Jasper County Tuesday afternoon, touring two deteriorating I-44 bridges that are being replaced with new funding.

This is the I-44 bridge over Shoal Creek near Joplin. It was built in 1956 (September 24, 2019 photo courtesy of KRZG’s Ty Albright)

Governor Mike Parson (R) is concerned about a new study, which says Missouri has the eighth-worst roads in the nation. He tells our Joplin affiliate KZRG (AM 1310) that it’s important to change that.

“After last year, the Legislature worked out the bonding issue. We’re going to be able to make lots of strides forward, in the infrastructure. We’re not going to be able to fix it all with that, but we’re going to make a step forward, and I think that’s what’s important,” Parson says.

Truckers and motorists along heavily-traveled I-44 near Joplin may have noticed the governor and television camera crews today, along with dozens of highway workers. Parson spoke to KZRG’s Ty Albright at the I-44 bridge over Shoal Creek, which was built in 1956. The governor says it was in poor condition.

“Just making sure that the public is aware of what’s going on and how we’re spending the money and why it’s so important that we keep these bridges and our infrastructure up,” says Parson.

State lawmakers approved the governor’s $350 million bridge bonding plan this year, which is aimed at repairing or replacing 250 deteriorating bridges. The two I-44 bridges are being replaced, using that funding.

Thousands of trucks cross the two bridges each year.

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Director Patrick McKenna joined the governor in Joplin.

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Schatz: Eight-hour backups on I-70 Rocheport bridge would have had “astronomical costs” (AUDIO)

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The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has received an $81 million federal grant to replace the aging I-70 bridge in mid-Missouri’s Rocheport, a bridge that carries millions of vehicles annually.

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) crews work on the I-70 Rocheport bridge (2019 file photo courtesy of MoDOT)

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt and Governor Mike Parson made the announcement Monday afternoon.

Parson says the funding will allow the existing bridge to be used during construction of the new bridge. Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, tells Missourinet motorists would have faced three to eight-hour backups without the grant, under a bridge rehabilitation.

“When you put the commerce that goes across I-70 basically in those types of traffic jams, you know seven, eight-hour traffic jams, the reality of what that really costs at the end of the day is astronomical,” Schatz says.

MoDOT says the 59-year-old bridge is in poor condition. The agency says more than 12 million vehicles cross the bridge annually. Pro Tem Schatz notes more than three million trucks cross it.

“Within 48 hours, there are trucks that are traveling across that bridge that are ending up somewhere within the lower 48 states in the United States,” says Schatz.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, agrees with Schatz, saying the new bridge will connect America’s east and west coasts. Hartzler’s sprawling district includes Rocheport.

The successful effort to land the $81 million grant has the strong, bipartisan support of Missouri’s congressional delegation. Hartzler tells Missourinet that U.S. Reps. Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, and Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, signed her letter in support of the project.

In Jefferson City, Pro Tem Schatz says the bipartisanship highlights the project’s importance.

“I think Senator Blunt, Senator (Josh) Hawley, going to bat for Missouri obviously making the case for how critical this is to our state, not only to our state but to the economy in general across the whole country,” Schatz says.

Governor Parson says the grant will allow the $240 million project to build a new six-lane I-70 Rocheport bridge near the current one, as well as reconstructing the nearby Route BB interchange. The governor expects construction of the new bridge to begin in 2021.

The grant will also mean $301 million in state bonding that is expected to repair or replace another 215 bridges across the state. Schatz sponsored that provision in the Senate.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, which was recorded on July 22, 2019:

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Who burned Barrel Bob? MoDOT’s mascot back in the shop for repairs after fire prank

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Barrel Bob has seen better days (photo/MODOT)

Barrel Bob has seen better days (photo/MODOT)

Motorists might have noticed that Barrel Bob, the Missouri Department of Transportation’s 10-foot tall orange mascot who works to promote work zone safety, is missing from his post on U.S. Route 50/63 in Jefferson City.

Barrel Bob hasn’t been kidnapped (which has happened before), but it appears he may have been victimized by an act of early Halloween villainy. The friendly work zone safety mascot was set on fire Tuesday evening on Route 50/63. Bob was discovered slumped over on the ground, with severe burns on his legs and torso. One leg was completely melted and the other was damaged in the fire. Both legs will need to be replaced.

Bob was taken into the shop on Wednesday and is receiving intensive repair. The mascot is expected to be out of commission for at least the next two weeks.

Barrel Bob didn’t swear revenge, but he has vowed to return to his post and resume his job of spreading the important message of work zone safety as soon as he is able.

If you would like send Bob get well wishes, you can follow him on Facebook

Story courtesy: MoDOT

Highway Commission’s role on Amendment 7, post project list approval

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Now that the Highways and Transportation Commission has approved a final project list for the Amendment 7 ballot issue, it’s not going to totally step away from the issue.

“We’re not part of a campaign. That’s left to other people,” says Chairman Stephen Miller of Kansas City, “We’ll be a resource to anyone that needs education about these projects.”

The projects total more than 800, ranging from a stretch of sidewalk in some communities to the $500-million dollar expansion of 200 miles of Interstate 70 from four lanes to six. All of them hinge on voter approval of a three-quarters of one-cent sales tax on August 5. Opponents say that tax increase would disproportionately burden the poorest 20% of Missourians.

Governor Jay Nixon (D) has been one such critic. Asked about Nixon’s opposition, Miller, who was appointed by Nixon, says it is the governor’s prerogative as it is for any Missouri voter, to evaluate the project list and the potential impacts of the tax.

“We’re prepared to let all voices be heard in that process, including our public leaders,” says Miller.

Miller is asked about Governor’ Nixon’s opposition to the transportation tax proposal:

 

Supporter: plenty of time for voters to review transportation tax project list

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The Transportation Department will release at noon Friday its draft list of projects that would be slated for completion if voters approve a tax increase in August.

Photo courtesy; the Missouri Department of Transportation

Photo courtesy; the Missouri Department of Transportation

The draft list will have the projects that the Highways and Transportation Commission would make sure are completed if voters approve the three-quarters of one cent increase. That list will be the subject of a series of public hearings, and projects could be added or removed before it is made final.

See the list of projects when it is posted at noon, and of dates of public hearings

Co-Chairman Bill McKenna with Missourians for Safe Transportation and New Jobs says that list will be limited by what money is expected to be available.

“The Commission doesn’t want to put something on the list that it won’t deliver over this ten-year period,” says McKenna. He says it has good incentive not to let any projects that make the final list go unfinished.

“Because it’s a temporary tax – at the end of ten years it’s gone – there’ll be an effort to extend it. So if MODOT doesn’t do what they say they’re going to do the chance of that being extended is probably pretty small,” says McKenna. “It’s kind of an extra guarantee to the voters that … you give MODOT this much money, this is what you’ll get in return.”

What the proposal is projected to give the Missouri Department of Transportation is an estimated $5.4-billion dollars over ten years. 90-percent of that will go to state transportation projects, with the remainder going to cities and counties for transportation projects. Those would not be limited to road and bridge projects, but would also include, “urban and rural transit, friendlier bike and pedestrian accommodations, improvements in rail, ports and airports,” as the Department’s website puts it.

The issue could have been awaiting voters in November but Governor Jay Nixon (D) acted on his option to move it to August. That put pressure on the Department to get a list ready so that voters can see what they will be asked to consider. McKenna says it wasn’t too much pressure, however.

“This isn’t something that just came out of the blue when the (legislative) session ended,” says McKenna. “MODOT and their planning partners have been working on this for many years … and I think they were probably ahead of the curve.”

McKenna thinks even people who don’t see local projects they want passed on that list could find reason to support the tax. He says, “I know that I have stuff here in (my home) county that’s not going to get on it, but I know that the things that are ahead of it, if they get taken care of, then mine moves up the list as well.”

McKenna cautions voters that no project is guaranteed to be on the final list.

“I don’t think there’s any safe bets, but we’ll know what the safe bets are by the end of this month,” McKenna says. “That will still give the voters plenty of time to look at it and make their decisions.”

The Commission is anticipated to vote on finalizing a list at its meeting later this month.

Public perception of MODOT could be key in sales tax increase’s fate

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Whether Missouri voters approve or reject a proposed three-quarters-of-one-cent sales tax increase to support transportation could have a lot to do with their memories going back about 22 years.

Senator Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City). Photo courtesy, Missouri State Senate Communications.

Senator Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City). Photo courtesy, Missouri State Senate Communications.

In 1992, the 15-year highway plan was enacted that included making all highways to towns of 5,000 people or larger four-lanes and a widening of Interstates 70 and 44 to six lanes. Six years later the plan was scrapped. The Missouri Department of Transportation later said it had been based on cost estimates that were too low, project inflation and growth weren’t accounted for and it planned on expending more money than was projected to come in.

The plan’s failure was blamed for the rejection by voters in 2002 of a $500-million transportation tax increase. Then in 2004 Missourians approved Amendment 3, shifting all revenues from the motor vehicle fuel tax to state and local highways, roads and bridges. The Department went to work on projects throughout the state and its public perception has improved.

Senator Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City) joined the Highways and Transportation Commission in 2005 and later became its chairman. He says perception was on the mind of Governor Matt Blunt (R) when Kehoe was appointed.

“One of the first things Governor Blunt went out and said was, ‘You need to try to work with some of our rural groups and tell them about the 15-year plan,” says Kehoe. “I said well that’s simple. MODOT screwed up. They didn’t do the right thing. They didn’t fulfill their commitment.”

Kehoe says the Commission and the Department, then directed by Pete Rahn, were committed to improving on the earlier failure and winning back the trust of the public. He says in partnership with contractors, they were able to do that.

Now it is that success that he says could help supporters of the transportation tax proposal sell it to voters between now and August 5.

“MODOT wants to take that reputation, said, ‘We messed up once in ’92. You told us we messed up. We listened. We got a second chance in ’04 with Amendment 3, and now we want to move forward under that same trust and relationship that we’ve built with you, Missouri, and deliver projects to you again,'” says Kehoe.

Listen to Kehoe discuss how the perception of MODOT since Amendment 3 relates to the proposed tax increase 

Governor Jay Nixon (D) on Friday announced action to put that proposed constitutional amendment on the primary ballot along with four other proposed amendments.  The plan would generate an estimated $534-million a year for ten years to support roads and bridges and other transportation infrastructure in Missouri.

Senate sponsor OK with transportation tax on August ballot

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The Senate sponsor of the proposed three-quarters-of-one-cent sales tax increase to benefit transportation doesn’t think it makes much difference that Governor Jay Nixon (D) has put it on the August primary ballot rather than the November ballot.

Senator Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City) says the shorter timeframe does leave supporters less time to make their case to voters, but it won’t change the issue.

“The problem hasn’t gone away,” says Kehoe. “No matter what date we have it on the ballot, the issue of repairing our roads, safety for our citizens, economic development and the jobs these projects can create, and the ripple effect on our economy is still a significant question.”

Another issue that has Nixon has put on the August ballot is the so-called “right to farm” amendment to the Missouri Constitution. Kehoe thinks that could be a good pairing.

“Rural Missourians understand that one of the ways that we can improve the safety on our rural roads is by making sure that the Department of Transportation has significant projects,” says Kehoe. “The same people that support the Right to Farm amendment may see this as a significant option to choose in order to protect our agricultural industry, so I’m hoping those two actually could compliment each other.”

Missouri Republican Party Executive Director Matt Wills notes his party’s supporter tend to turn out strongly in primaries, and they traditionally oppose tax increases. He thinks that could be what Nixon is banking on.

“I think placing it on the primary ballot, the Governor really looks at it saying, ‘Well, Republicans will turn out to defeat this and it doesn’t hurt Democrats because it’s a ballot initiative, but Republicans in the legislature will look bad for putting up a tax increase that gets defeated by their own party,'” says Wills. “I don’t really think that is sound logic.”

The proposed transportation tax would generate an estimated $534-million annually for ten years before automatically going back in front of voters who could consider its renewal.

Nixon announced on Friday action to have that and the “right to farm” issue decided in August as well as a proposed amendments to create a new lottery ticket with proceeds benefitting Missouri veterans, to protect against searches and seizures of electronic communications and data, and to make the right to keep and bear arms in Missouri an unalienable right that must be upheld by the state.

Legislature puts sales tax increase for transportation to MO voters

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The state legislature is asking Missouri voters if they want to raise the state sales tax to support transportation.

The Senate changed the proposal from a 1-cent sales tax increase to a three-fourths-of-one-cent increase and sent it to the House 22-10. The House on Wednesday approved that 105-43, meaning it will go on the statewide ballot in November unless Governor Nixon sets a special election date for it.

If passed it would generate an estimated $534-million dollars annually, running for ten years beginning in 2015.

The proposal is HJR 68

The Missouri Department of Transportation has said it will soon not have the money for road and bridge maintenance. It has already quit adding new projects to its five-year construction program and suspended a cost-share program, in which the Department split the cost of a project with local governments in the area it would impact.

The Department’s Director, Dave Nichols, issued a statement praising passage of the proposed amendment.

Nichols writes, “Today is a great day for the future of transportation in Missouri. I would like to thank the General Assembly for passing this important legislation that gives Missourians the opportunity to improve our economy and keep our families safe by investing in much-needed transportation improvements.

“We are working with planning partners around the state and representatives from every mode of transportation to determine how this new revenue could best improve our total transportation system. We are ready to deliver the projects and services that Missourians expect and deserve.”