Sam
05-27-2005, 08:12 AM
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/11746715.htm
Roads in Kansas City, St. Louis among nation's worst, study shows
SAM HANANEL
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Road conditions in and around Kansas City and St. Louis are among the worst in the nation, a new study of large metropolitan areas shows.
About 71 percent of major roads and highways in the Kansas City area are considered substandard, ranking the city No. 1 on the list of large urban areas with poor quality roads.
The St. Louis area ranked No. 3, with 66 percent of major routes having unacceptable quality pavement, according to the study released Thursday by TRIP, a Washington-based transportation research group.
The organization - funded by insurance companies, construction firms and highway engineering companies - is urging Congress to spend more money to upgrade roads and ease traffic congestion.
Rough roads cost the average Kansas City motorist $689 a year in extra maintenance, the study reported. St. Louis drivers pay an added $669 in repair costs.
"Unfortunately it's not surprising to us," said Jeff Briggs, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Transportation. "We've known for a while now that our roads are in pretty rough shape."
With the nation's seventh-largest state highway system, Missouri has unusually high traffic volume, but not enough tax revenues to fund road improvements, Briggs said.
"We get a lot of cross-country traffic and we get more than our fair share of heavy truck traffic as well," Briggs said. "A lot of these major highways are 30 to 40 years old, taking a tremendous beating from all this traffic, and they are simply wearing out faster than we can repair them."
Kansas City officials said the city was working hard to improve its roads, with $75 million of a $250 million bond issue approved in 2004 designated for street repairs.
"It should be noted that the ranking was for the metro area and included interstate highways, freeways and main arterial roads," Steve Worley, the city's acting engineer, said in a statement.
He said the state also is taking action to improve Missouri roads, after voters last November approved a measure to increase transportation funding. MoDOT plans to spend $400 million over the next three years to fix the most heavily traveled roads in the state.
The metropolitan area with the best roads is Atlanta, followed by Orlando, Fla., Columbus, Ga., Pensacola, Fla., and Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.
The study reports that major urban roads and highways across the country have worsened in recent years, from 22 percent in poor condition in 1998 to 26 percent in 2003.
Will Wilkins, TRIP's executive director, called on federal lawmakers to pass new legislation that increases spending on transportation infrastructure. A new highway bill has been stalled in Congress since 2003, when the previous six-year plan expired, and Congress has had to pass seven extensions - the latest through June - to keep money flowing at the old levels.
Both the House and Senate have passed highway spending bills this year, but the White House has threatened to veto any compromise that exceeds spending parameters laid out in the budget.
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As a former rural school board member at the time when the question of whether or not to allow the state of Missouri to legalize gambling was put to the voters with the 'hook' of - it'll benefit education and the schools - only to find that state legislators had 'redirected' this money to other state programs, I'm growing more and more irritated with elected state officials. Especially now, with the athletes and performers tax bill to benefit the stadium complex being shot down recently and the shutdown of Paseo bridge for construction work causing large rush hour traffic backups. It just makes me wonder, where is all the state, county and city tax money actually going?
Roads in Kansas City, St. Louis among nation's worst, study shows
SAM HANANEL
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Road conditions in and around Kansas City and St. Louis are among the worst in the nation, a new study of large metropolitan areas shows.
About 71 percent of major roads and highways in the Kansas City area are considered substandard, ranking the city No. 1 on the list of large urban areas with poor quality roads.
The St. Louis area ranked No. 3, with 66 percent of major routes having unacceptable quality pavement, according to the study released Thursday by TRIP, a Washington-based transportation research group.
The organization - funded by insurance companies, construction firms and highway engineering companies - is urging Congress to spend more money to upgrade roads and ease traffic congestion.
Rough roads cost the average Kansas City motorist $689 a year in extra maintenance, the study reported. St. Louis drivers pay an added $669 in repair costs.
"Unfortunately it's not surprising to us," said Jeff Briggs, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Transportation. "We've known for a while now that our roads are in pretty rough shape."
With the nation's seventh-largest state highway system, Missouri has unusually high traffic volume, but not enough tax revenues to fund road improvements, Briggs said.
"We get a lot of cross-country traffic and we get more than our fair share of heavy truck traffic as well," Briggs said. "A lot of these major highways are 30 to 40 years old, taking a tremendous beating from all this traffic, and they are simply wearing out faster than we can repair them."
Kansas City officials said the city was working hard to improve its roads, with $75 million of a $250 million bond issue approved in 2004 designated for street repairs.
"It should be noted that the ranking was for the metro area and included interstate highways, freeways and main arterial roads," Steve Worley, the city's acting engineer, said in a statement.
He said the state also is taking action to improve Missouri roads, after voters last November approved a measure to increase transportation funding. MoDOT plans to spend $400 million over the next three years to fix the most heavily traveled roads in the state.
The metropolitan area with the best roads is Atlanta, followed by Orlando, Fla., Columbus, Ga., Pensacola, Fla., and Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.
The study reports that major urban roads and highways across the country have worsened in recent years, from 22 percent in poor condition in 1998 to 26 percent in 2003.
Will Wilkins, TRIP's executive director, called on federal lawmakers to pass new legislation that increases spending on transportation infrastructure. A new highway bill has been stalled in Congress since 2003, when the previous six-year plan expired, and Congress has had to pass seven extensions - the latest through June - to keep money flowing at the old levels.
Both the House and Senate have passed highway spending bills this year, but the White House has threatened to veto any compromise that exceeds spending parameters laid out in the budget.
-----
As a former rural school board member at the time when the question of whether or not to allow the state of Missouri to legalize gambling was put to the voters with the 'hook' of - it'll benefit education and the schools - only to find that state legislators had 'redirected' this money to other state programs, I'm growing more and more irritated with elected state officials. Especially now, with the athletes and performers tax bill to benefit the stadium complex being shot down recently and the shutdown of Paseo bridge for construction work causing large rush hour traffic backups. It just makes me wonder, where is all the state, county and city tax money actually going?