Missouri will be spending money on lots of these signs, instead of road repairs
Republican anti-tax fetishists in the Missouri Legislature have killed an extremely modest proposal to increase the state gasoline tax by a miserable 2 cents. TWO CENTS. Two cents a gallon on a fill-up wouldn't save the driver of a Hummer enough to buy a candy bar. But, you know, no new taxes and all that jazz. The Post Dispatch reports:
The push for a 2-cent-per-gallon gas tax died in the Legislature, and now the Missouri Department of Transportation must grapple with what’s next.
The hike was far from the panacea sought for paying for road projects, but local leaders campaigned hard for a measure they saw as better than nothing.
So a belt-tightening looms, and nowhere is that more clear than in MoDOT’s draft version of its Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, which covers plans for fiscal years 2016 to 2020.
How exactly will that play out on the open road? Not well.
In previous statewide transportation reports, contractor awards averaged $1.2 billion with about 50 percent to care for the system. In this report, contractor awards are $382 million with 85 percent for system care, a number expected to drop to $325 million.
“It will take all $325 million to keep the primary routes in their current condition,” the report says. “MoDOT will only do limited routine maintenance on supplementary roads, which means their condition will deteriorate.”
MoDOT approved this year “Missouri’s 325 System,” in which the state will use that $325 million to maintain 8,000 miles of primary roads such as interstates. The remaining 26,000 miles of roads will see limited routine maintenance. Snow will be plowed, potholes will be filled and traffic signals will be kept running, but little else will be done.
I hope the drivers of the gas hogs on Missouri roads are able to enjoy their candy bar before the rough roads shake their teeth out of their heads. On second thought, no I don't.