The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission yesterday gave its approval to a long-range Missouri Department of Transportation plan, but with a caveat. Without additional funding, MoDOT has little chance of fully executing it.
The federally required plan, dubbed A Vision for Missouri's Transportation Future, lays out a guide for the next 20 years. After an initial presentation to the commission in November and three months of public review, the report includes 12,000 project suggestions and operational priorities, according to a news release.
However, MoDOT's governing commission warns the state transportation department's construction budget will soon fall below the minimum $485 million per year needed to keep road and bridges in satisfactory condition.
"Missourians have told us what they want, and it's more than what they have today," said commission Chairman Joe Carmichael, a Springfield attorney with Carmichael & Neal PC, in the release. "The reality is that we will not be able to afford it.
"We'll continue to look to them for help in sharpening the vision for transportation in our state and finding ways to deal with our funding challenges."
The approved plan estimates MoDOT likely will see 19 percent fewer federal funds, even as MoDOT's construction budget is shrinking.
Between 2005 and 2010, the transportation department's construction budget averaged $1.3 billion, but it has fallen to $685 million this year. The budget is expected to drop to $325 million by 2017, which would mark its lowest point since 1992, the release said.
The reasons for the smaller budget are many, according to MoDOT. As cars become more fuel-efficient and people drive less, fuel tax revenue has diminished, while the costs of doing business have increased; inflation has decreased MoDOT's purchasing power by more than 50 percent; asphalt, concrete and steel costs have risen as much as 200 percent from 1992; employee health care and retirement costs continue to increase; and a looming insolvency of the Federal Highway Trust Fund in August or September applies pressure.
According to the release, the 17-cent per gallon state fuel tax that was MoDOT's purchasing power in 1992 - the last time fuel taxes were increased - now represents about 8 cents due to inflation.
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