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Many Rivers to Cross
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St. Louis
area leaders emerge as road scholars.
By Kevin Kipp
Bottlenecks and traffic jams aren’t the only transportation challenges
in the metropolitan area. They are, however, symptoms of a more
profound situation.
Even so, Les Sterman, executive director of East-West Gateway Coordinating
Council, sees a silver lining in the congestion: “It’s an economic
cost, but we’ll always have some of it. It’s frustrating, but it’s
also a symbol of growth and prosperity. If you don’t have any, then
you should worry.”
Geography bears some responsibility for the bottlenecks, Sterman
says. “We have rivers criss-crossing the area. That creates bottlenecks,
even though St. Louis has more freeway lane-miles per capita than
almost any metropolitan area with more than 1 million people. We
have one of the most extensive and effective metropolitan highway
systems in the nation.”
And a Census Bureau report last November suggested that the St.
Louis region’s workers enjoyed relatively short commutes, in the
range of 20-something minutes. So the news isn’t all bad, but...
“In Missouri we haven’t invested in maintaining our highways and
bridges. Their condition doesn’t really come to level that we would
hope to have. It’s a danger sign for the future.”
He says funding beyond 2004 is only enough to maintain existing
highways, with very little for expansion. Absent new funding, you’ll
see no Interstate 70 across the Mississippi River at downtown, no
Highway 40 improvements in St. Louis and St. Charles Counties, no
additional work on Phase II of the Page/Highway 364 project to connect
I-270 in St. Louis County to 40/61 at O’Fallon, no improvements
to Highways WW or MM in Jefferson County.
“Our future as a regional and national player in the global economy
is at stake here,” says Gene Scott, presiding commissioner of Franklin
County. “Every dollar invested in transportation infrastructure
returns three to the economy.”
It’s not just highways. Sterman points out that public transit in
St. Louis is “inadequate for a town this size. We are the 17th largest
metropolitan area and have the 31st largest transit agency.”
Scott Schnuck, president & COO of Schnuck Markets and vice-chair
of the RCGA Board for Public Policy, says area business leaders
have made Missouri’s transportation infrastructure a priority for
the next legislative session. It makes sense to do so for two reasons.
“One, we are way behind raising the money that’s required to meet
our needs,” he says. “And, two, we’re way behind what neighboring
states are spending.”
Whether because of effective proselytizing or because the numbers
present such compelling evidence, everyone we interviewed for this
story sang from that page, citing Missouri’s relative position in
transportation spending.
Nationally Missouri ranks 42nd in per capita highway expenditures,
Schnuck says. And Missourians pay user fees amounting to 1.8 cents
per mile traveled on the state highways, Sterman says, as compared
to 2.8 cents in Illinois, 3.1 in Iowa, and 5.8 in Kansas.
Lackamoney isn’t the only problem. Sterman points out inefficiencies
in the system like getting “a little chunk of funding every year
to build huge projects. You don’t build a skyscraper three floors
at a time, and once space is leased, then you build another three.
You build it all at once.”
Barry Beracha, CEO of Sara Lee Bakery Group, is the infrastructure
committee chair for Civic Progress and succeeded Schnuck as vice
chair of the RCGA Board for Infrastructure in January. He says,
“At this point the RCGA and Civic Progress have worked together
for the last four years to put together a plan for investing in
the transportation system in St. Louis, setting priorities and communicating
a sense of urgency for this investment.”
Last year, Schnuck says, “Governor Holden proposed a statewide transportation
package that stalled in the Senate because the Farm Bureau wouldn’t
accept any proposal with new taxes.” (The Farm Bureau consolidates
rural interests on issues like transportation, he explains. Other
sources point out they may harbor resentment for the demise of a
15-year plan, established in 1992 that promised four-lane highways
to communities of 5,000 souls or more.)
“And with a new majority in the Senate, the Republicans weren’t
eager to support a tax increase, either,” Schnuck continues. “We
are guardedly optimistic that next session could be better for three
reasons.
“One, we’ve worked hard to educate our local caucus and area elected
officials to support a transportation bill. Forward Metro St. Louis
has made it one of four top priorities for our local caucuses to
support on an aggressive and bipartisan basis.”
And the congregation says, “Amen”: Tom Dunne, Sr., president & CEO
at Fred Weber Inc. is a member of the RCGA Public Policy Council
and Missouri Caucus Chair for Forward Metro St. Louis. He, too,
sees local officials getting on board. “Everyone seems to recognize
transportation’s significance to the region,” he says. “We’ve received
support from St. Charles, Jefferson and Franklin Counties, as well
as St. Louis County and the City.”
Franklin County’s Scott says, “Members of East-West Gateway and
other organizations who support growth are all pretty much unified
in their belief: We have a problem, and it’s a Missouri problem.”
Back to Schnuck’s roster for optimism: “Two, RCGA has been meeting
with the Greater Kansas City Chamber, and we have determined that
our needs for additional transportation funding are in full alignment.
We feel that the western part of the state will join us in strong
support for a transportation bill.
“It’s not strictly a St. Louis issue, or even an urban issue,” Dunne
adds. “It’s state-wide and even national.”
“Thirdly,” concludes Schnuck, “we have been in serious discussions
with the Farm Bureau, which is showing evidence of a softening on
their no-new-taxes position.” The RCGA and the Farm Bureau have
worked since last year’s frustrating Legislative Session and have
arrived at an agreement in principle supporting a major statewide
transportation funding proposal for 2002.
Schnuck says the solution was a minimum of $600 million a year in
additional transportation funding over the next 10 years.
Beracha says, “We have quite a few priorities and $600 million is
a minimum...Missouri could easily spend $800 million or a billion
more a year effectively without creating any overcapacity. But $600
million would be a very good start.”
According to Sterman, Missouri collects about $1.66 billion annually
for state-administered highways. Of that total, about $1 billion
is used for construction.
Schnuck suggested a variety of sources for new revenue, “including
gas taxes and other users fees, registration and license fees. But
most importantly, we need some revenue from a sales tax, perhaps
half a cent. That would allow for monies to be directed to transit;
the current gas tax revenues can’t be channeled to transit.”
Kevin Kipp runs Bubble Communications, a creative services and
community relations firm in St. Charles. |
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