MD PoliBlog

Region $10.8 billion short of meeting transportation needs

Region $10.8 billion short of meeting transportation needs:

 The Kansas City area has $21.5 billion in transportaton needs during the next 30 years and is about $10 billion short of picking up the tab.

The numbers were assembled by regional planners at the Mid-America Regional Council, which is putting together new 30-year transportation plan through 2040.

 The plan is more than just an academic exercise. Its part of a federal planning requirement that lays the groundwork for what might eventually get funded as federal dollars come into the region.

Planners estimated that the regions top transportation priority -- maintenance and upkeep of what we have -- will cost $12.6 billion  over the next 30 years.

In terms of projects -- your I-70s, your K-10s,   your bus rapid transit lines and your bike trails -- the regions needs total $19.2 billion, including 170 projects in Kansas and 226 in Missouri.

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(Via KansasCity.com Prime Buzz - Today's political intelligence and insight.)

Kansas lawmaker says toll proceeds could help state budget

The Kansas Turnpike collects about $79 million in tolls annually. One state lawmaker is eyeing that money -- and wondering if it could be used to help the state budget. The House Transportation Committee will hear debate on a bill that would abolish the Kansas Turnpike Authority and make the Turnpike part of the Kansas Department of Transportation. Drivers would continue to pay tolls, but the money would go to the state instead of being used specifically to maintain the Turnpike and pay Turnpike staff and several state troopers. "Hopefully there wouldn't be major changes, just fewer expenses," said Garnett Democrat Rep. Bill Feuerborn, sponsor of House Bill 2178. See also: Highway tolls: KTA a survivor

Bill would abolish KS Turnpike Authority

The Kansas Turnpike Authority would be abolished and its powers and functions shifted to the state Department of Transportation under a bill before the Legislature.

Rep. Bill Feuerborn of Garnett says he’s proposing the change as a way to deal with the state’s huge budget deficit. Feuerborn is the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

He said today that turnpike tolls could be used as a ‘revenue stream’ for state government. Besides, he says, when the authority was established, state officials envisioned that its operations would be turned over to the state once the cost of building the turnpike had been paid.

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(Via KansasCity.com Prime Buzz - Today's political intelligence and insight.)