MoDOT Blue Ribbon

Post by **dangerboy** » Wed Nov 05, 2003 1:07 am

FYI, the "Blue Ribbon" panel on the Missouri Department of Transportation has issued its final report.

PDF:
http://www.modot.org/highlights/documen ... nOct31.pdf

ShowME · Post by **ShowME** » Wed Nov 05, 2003 10:01 am

The reality is Missouri has just gone way to the right in the political arena. The voting electorate, especially in rural and southern Missouri can bitch and moan about accountability and the need to form more commissions.(which is more govt which I don't get) The main culprit for MoDot's failure all boils down to lack of funding. Missouri needs to make a decision.
1. Either increase the gas tax from the lowest levels in the U.S. that it's currently at.
2. Approve toll roads.
3. Tolerate our crappy roads.

You get what you pay for!

ShowME · Post by **ShowME** » Wed Nov 05, 2003 10:04 am

Oh yea right wingers if your looking for more scapegoats to blame for Missouri's road crisis look to the failed plan of 1992. All the broken promises to connect all towns with a population of 5,000 or more with a 4 lane highway. ACCOUNTABILITY you say starts at the top. Better start with the governor at the time JOHN ASHCROFT!

Post by **dangerboy** » Wed Nov 05, 2003 11:58 am

I am all for bashing Ashcroft, but to be fair, but blame for the failure of the 1992 plan goes to both parties. Ashcroft's administration started with a really bad plan, and Carnahan's administration botched the implementation of it, including a lot of scope creep.

I think the biggest problem is that the state is taking care of too many roads. MoDOT maintains hundreds of small roads that would be owned by individual counties and cities in most other states. So we either have need a big state-wide tax increase, or we need to turn some roads over to local government and let them decide if they want to tax themselves on a local basis.

scooterj · Post by **scooterj** » Wed Nov 05, 2003 12:35 pm

I'd love to see MODOT just up and hand control of every lettered route to the counties. Then the rural folk and right wingers will have the local control they love so much, and MODOT will free up tremendous amounts of cash that can use used to maintain/repair upgrade the PRIMARY routes... the routes that affect people on a statewide level.