Transportation funds could be on the way

U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., ranking member of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, announced the project list on Friday as part of the subcommittee’s fiscal 2008 spending bill. The bill, which passed the full Senate Appropriations Committee, must be passed by the full Senate and reconciled with the version approved by the House of Representatives.

Among the items on the list:

• $3 million for the interchange of Missouri Route 266 (Chestnut Expressway) and Interstate 44. The upgrade will serve the $119 million Springfield-Branson National Airport Midfield Terminal, now under construction;

• $2 million to construct a new City Utilities Intermodal Transfer Facility for the city’s public transit system;

• $750,000 for the U.S. Highway 60 corridor west of Republic, to improve design and safety;

• $500,000 for upgrades to the intersection of Highway 13 (Kansas Expressway), and Broadmoor St.; and

• $500,000 to fund new handicap-accessible cabins at Camp Barnabas in Purdy, for children with special needs.

“Improving our transportation infrastructure is vital to the communities of southwest Missouri,” Bond said in a news release. “Getting this funding approved in committee was a critical step.”