Tagged: Interstate 70

The head of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission has unveiled a plan for funding the state’s aging highways and bridges.

The centerpiece would be a new one-cent sales tax.  It would expire after 10 years, and would need approval from both lawmakers and Missouri voters.  Transportation Commission Chairman Rudy Farber says the tax would not be collected on medicine, groceries or gasoline purchases.

The Missouri Department of Transportation's budget for capital improvement will drop by nearly half in 2013.

In each of the last five years, MoDOT has had close to $1.3 billion to spend statewide on highway project. This year, that number will be down to $700 million for the entire state.

MoDOT District Engineer Ed Hassinger says that's going to result in a lot of "Band-aids."

This morning marked the first rush hour since all westbound lanes of the Blanchette Bridge were closed late yesterday afternoon for a year-long construction project.