KCRag Forum

It would be ridiculous to fund that steamboat museum in Jefferson City when there is not enough money to replace highly-used bridges in large cities.

FangKC wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2019 4:40 am It would be ridiculous to fund that steamboat museum in Jefferson City when there is not enough money to replace highly-used bridges in large cities.

Invest in essentials = bad
Waste on useless pet projects = good

Seriously who oversees modot spending? We can't even get them to fix highway lighting along i70. They don't clear sidewalks and bike lanes they are responsible for, they dump their bridge on KCMO to help fix. Seems beyond incompetent.

KCPowercat wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2019 8:57 am Seriously who oversees modot spending? We can't even get them to fix highway lighting along i70. They don't clear sidewalks and bike lanes they are responsible for, they dump their bridge on KCMO to help fix. Seems beyond incompetent.

It's exactly what people said would happen. When every project is built bigger than the last (even bridge repairs tend to get built bigger) their future obligations increase. So it takes major increases in funding just to do maintenance in the future which is just being spent on yet bigger projects instead of doing that maintenance.

Couple that with disinterest in divesting the smaller roads. Modot manages roads with under 400 users daily in rural areas. They would be a county road anywhere else. Texas has way more money for roads (oil money, tolls) and they maintain half the miles per capita as state roads.

Is there any estimate of how much tolls could bring in? I think that this project would be a good one to deliver under a P3.

normalthings wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:00 pm Is there any estimate of how much tolls could bring in? I think that this project would be a good one to deliver under a P3.

I don't think that much honestly. Most people would just go the Bond Bridge. Additionally, it's hard to ask voters who already face a high tax burden including paying for the bridge itself, to be taxed once again for using it.

To be fair to MDOT, the gas tax has not been raised in 22 years, and Missouri has among the lowest gas taxes in the USA. The last time the gas tax was on the ballot to be raised (2018), Missourians voted it down. Since 1996, the state has also added more than 525,000 in population, so I assume that also means more vehicles traveling our roads. Many vehicles have also increased gas mileage since 1996, so the state collects less revenue for miles traveled.

I agree that the State has no business adding new, or expanding any highways.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/mi ... 6#stream/0

Is there a law saying that a gas tax has to be put to a vote? Or does the state legislature just do it for political reasons?

I know politics is hard but our gas tax is stupidly low.

WoodDraw wrote: ↑Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:03 am Is there a law saying that a gas tax has to be put to a vote? Or does the state legislature just do it for political reasons?

I know politics is hard but our gas tax is stupidly low.

IIRC the gas tax (or part of it) is in the constitution.

This is why I rarely vote Yes to constitutional amendments.

KCPowercat wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2019 8:57 am Seriously who oversees modot spending? We can't even get them to fix highway lighting along i70. They don't clear sidewalks and bike lanes they are responsible for, they dump their bridge on KCMO to help fix. Seems beyond incompetent.

Isn’t this the same group that spends more on capacity increase than they do maintenance?

Fox 4 saying the funding is pretty locked up now with some Federal funding coming in.

You mean "locked up" in a good way, right? Not as in reference to, say, bowels.

Also, is this just for the bridge or is there anything about the north loop?

TheLastGentleman wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2019 11:37 pm Also, is this just for the bridge or is there anything about the north loop?

Bridge and an ungodly number of flyovers/ramps. They are going to put in a big interchange on the south end (booo).

normalthings wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2019 6:28 am

TheLastGentleman wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2019 11:37 pm Also, is this just for the bridge or is there anything about the north loop?

Bridge and an ungodly number of flyovers/ramps. They are going to put in a big interchange on the south end (booo).

The design option has been decided?

But, hey, bike/ped crossing amirite?

Here is the story

https://fox4kc.com/2019/07/24/with-chan ... re-likely/

To clarify the reporting from our local broadcast news outlet:

- The O'Neil Bridge is *not* on the list of 200 bridges to be repaired with the new state-issued debt
- Getting an "INFRA" grant to fix a bridge that *is* on the list frees up existing state funding that *might* go towards O'Neil Bridge
- This is not a formal "commitment" from MoDOT (which is why their actual quote is "a certainty of path")
- We all thought replacement was all wrapped up once before and then MoDOT was "suddenly" short on their $75 million

What a wet blanket Dave.