Transportation issues are going to be big this year for states and for federal lawmakers.
US Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., spelled out three options for the nations transportation future during his visit to Quincy last Wednesday.
In the Democrat-led US Senate, Kirk said some members want to impose a 50-cent tax on each gallon of fuel. That would be quite a jump from the federal gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon and diesel tax of 24.4 cents per gallon. Kirk believes such a tax hike would cause the nation to tumble back into recession.
In the Republican-led US House, Kirk said the top option is to suspend general fund additions to the Federal Highway Fund. States would get 30 percent less than recent funding levels, causing the economy to grind to a halt, Kirk said.
His own plan is to allow public/private partnerships. Private entities would be able to build a new highway or bridge and collect tolls to cover the costs. Investors might build a new airport terminal and then collect the gate fees to recoup their expenses.
Missouri and Iowa officials see some other options.
Missouri Department of Transportation Director Kevin Keith wants to see tolls collected along Interstate 70 to cover billions in repair and expansion costs. Missouri has received permission from the US Department of Transportation to collect tolls along the nations first interstate highway. Only two other states have been granted leeway to collect tolls on interstates.
Tolls, which could be 10 to 15 cents per mile for cars and more than that for truckers, would help generate the money to do repairs and upgrades estimated to cost $2 billion up to $4 billion.
The $2 billion plan would involve construction of a third lane in each direction and dividing the highway with a concrete median. A $3 billion option would add the third lanes and replace all interchanges as well as creating a median of up to 150 feet. The $4 billion plan would add two new lanes in each direction, with two dedicated for trucks only and the other two for cars.
Some officials in Northeast Missouri would welcome tolls on I-70, because it would push more traffic onto US 36.
Iowa is looking to a possible state fuel tax hike, but nothing close to the 50-cent hike that some in Washington have considered.
Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican, said he would consider raising the fuel tax.
One plan calls for state fuel taxes to rise 4 cents a gallon in 2013 and another 4 cents a gallon in 2014. The 8-cent increase would generate about $180 million a year for highway projects. It would be close to the 10-cent increase recommended in October by the Governors 2020 Citizen Advisory Commission.
The Iowa Department of Transportation reports that transportation dollars fall at least $200 million a year short of critical needs. The state has identified more than $1.5 billion in projects that are needed in the short term.
Transportation funding has been a problem for years. It relies on the federal and state fuel taxes that are paid per gallon instead of as a percentage of sales. The federal government is collecting that same 18.4 cents a gallon from gasoline that it was getting when fuel cost less than $1 per gallon. Vehicles are more fuel efficient and the number of miles driven declined during the recent recession.
In theory, those federal fuel tax dollars accumulate in the Federal Highway Fund and then are sent back to states each year to finance highway and bridge projects, as well as other transportation work.
Nobody likes to think about higher fuel taxes or paying highway or bridge tolls. Yet driving on crumbling or congested roads and dangerous bridges is not acceptable either.
So the debate, and the search for answers and dollars, will continue.
— dwilson@whig.com/221-3372