[0:00] gregory
[0:02] Schroer
[0:05] Washington Weber
[0:14] right we do not have a quorum
[0:15] but we will not be taking any
[0:17] votes so we do not need a quorum
[0:19] today. Today, especially with
[0:21] the tighter budget outlook
[0:24] coming for f28. I want to bring
[0:26] the director in here and have
[0:27] him give an update on the
[0:28] legislatively designated
[0:32] projects that have come to modot
[0:33] here over the past few years and
[0:34] just get an update on where
[0:37] those projects stand and which
[0:38] ones that we need to make sure
[0:40] that are protected through this
[0:41] budget cycle so Mr. Director
[0:42] you may proceed when you are
[0:43] ready.
[1:00] So Mr cochair members of the
[1:02] committee it's a pleasure to be
[1:04] here to give you an update
[1:06] not only on our projects but all
[1:08] the other initiatives that we're
[1:10] doing so I I prepared some
[1:12] testimony and I'll I'll kind of
[1:14] use it as the highlights not
[1:16] read it to you directly but it
[1:17] does give you some
[1:18] some of the detail
[1:22] you know what modot our mission
[1:22] is to provide a worldclass
[1:24] transportation system that's
[1:27] safe innovative, reliable and
[1:28] dedicated to serving the
[1:29] customers for a prosperous
[1:29] Missouri
[1:34] that's kind of gives the great
[1:36] baseline of what wer try to
[1:36] accomplish every day with our
[1:37] team
[1:40] and when I took over as director
[1:42] I said there's really4 things if
[1:44] you had to kind of say what does
[1:46] success look like and it's
[1:46] really deliver the program
[1:49] restore the capability of our
[1:49] operations team
[1:53] make sure that it's safe for our
[1:54] folks to do their work and save
[1:56] for the people that use the
[1:57] roadway and provide outstanding
[1:57] customer service
[1:58] so
[2:01] fairly simple concepts that are
[2:02] all really difficult to do
[2:06] but I wanted to just start on
[2:08] really to directly answer the
[2:10] question that's been put in
[2:13] front of us by the cochair
[2:14] underliver the program
[2:16] you know we have had
[2:20] unprecedented success over the
[2:22] last 10 years in delivering
[2:24] over4,200 projects for a total
[2:28] of8.3 billion dollars 3.5% under
[2:30] budget and93% on time.
[2:35] and that's a track record that I
[2:37] think probably no DOT in the
[2:38] country could live up to and
[2:39] it's really
[2:42] a reflection of the trust that
[2:44] you've put in us what our
[2:46] commission can do and the
[2:48] commission form of governance to
[2:50] actually move projects through
[2:51] the system
[2:54] and you know in the last several
[2:56] years the general assembly has
[2:58] put a huge amount of trust and
[3:00] responsibility in us by putting
[3:01] a lot of
[3:05] s ign ated money and projects
[3:08] in front of us to deliver on top
[3:09] of our normal
[3:11] operations that we do
[3:15] and so I just wanted to kind of
[3:16] kind of highlight where we're
[3:18] where we're at with that in
[3:20] front of you we've been keeping
[3:22] this document up to date since
[3:24] we started that process so this
[3:27] is kind of the the gory details
[3:29] of every project that has been
[3:32] funded with general revenue by
[3:34] the legislature since that first
[3:36] project the focus on bridge
[3:39] programme and we we keep this
[3:40] going but it's that important
[3:41] that we're able
[3:44] when you say hey here's some
[3:46] things that we want to
[3:48] accomplish this is an ongoing
[3:50] document that we keep up to date
[3:52] and we updated it just just
[3:54] recently here for this for this
[3:55] hearing to make sure that it was
[3:57] up to date and we'll do that
[3:58] again at the beginning of the
[4:00] session because there'll be
[4:01] there'll be significant progress
[4:02] in the next two months I can
[4:03] tell you so this will look
[4:04] different
[4:06] in January than it does right
[4:07] now
[4:10] but just just some basic
[4:10] highlights
[4:11] you know
[4:15] the rural routes program the
[4:16] legislature has invested over
[4:19] $340 million of general revenue
[4:22] into that program to help
[4:22] address the condition of low
[4:24] volume roads whichrily
[4:28] a roughly half of those roads
[4:30] are ineligible to get federal
[4:32] funds so it's always been a
[4:34] challenge for us to to use our
[4:37] money that you know has to be
[4:38] matched and we used to leverage
[4:39] federal funds to
[4:42] put those on those low volume
[4:44] roads so that that decision you
[4:45] made was
[4:48] made a huge difference
[4:52] to date we have made
[4:54] improvements to6,100 lane miles
[4:55] of low volume roads
[4:58] and then we have an
[5:02] additional433 that are slated to
[5:02] be done this year on top of that
[5:04] so
[5:08] you know those those minor rows
[5:10] and low volume low volume roads
[5:11] make up about28,000 miles of our
[5:11] system
[5:14] which is over84%
[5:16] and currently
[5:20] those two categories of roads
[5:21] are in8
[5:25] well over the goal that we've
[5:28] set of70 for low volume and80
[5:30] for our minor roads so that
[5:32] investment has been invaluable
[5:34] for us taking care of those
[5:38] systems that are less traveled
[5:39] but still very important
[5:44] likewise more than 100,400
[5:46] bridges across the state we are
[5:48] responsible for and we've made
[5:50] steady progress on reducing the
[5:51] number of poor bridges
[5:54] you know the general revenue
[5:56] investment in that and the focus
[5:57] on bridge programme
[6:01] has repaired or replaced over250
[6:04] poor condition bridges if you
[6:08] go back to2019 we had over900
[6:09] bridges that were in poor
[6:09] condition
[6:12] as we sit here today that number
[6:13] is726.
[6:17] and a lot of that is a direct
[6:18] result of the investment that
[6:19] the legis
[6:21] So
[6:24] if you remember that was a50
[6:26] million dollars single
[6:32] appropriation and then a $301
[6:33] million bonding proposal that
[6:33] had some triggers in it
[6:36] that were pretty important right
[6:38] that we had to get a federal
[6:38] grant to do some work on
[6:44] all of that happened we did the
[6:45] bonding we've got all the
[6:45] bridges done
[6:50] and the bonds are paid up
[6:51] will be paid off at the end of
[6:51] this year
[6:54] so we can we'll be able to put a
[6:55] bow on that one
[6:58] and call that one a success.
[7:00] Right now one of the things I
[7:02] wanted to point out is that
[7:06] debt service on low volume or on
[7:08] the focus on bridge program is
[7:09] about45
[7:14] so that'll be paid off and
[7:16] certainly we are going to make a
[7:18] proposal during this next
[7:20] legislature to continue that
[7:22] process in some way shape or
[7:23] form I think the idea of using
[7:23] that
[7:27] mechanism to do priorities that
[7:28] the legislature has is a really
[7:29] good one
[7:30] so
[7:34] I think that's a huge
[7:36] opportunity. the thing that
[7:38] we have proposed is maybe to
[7:38] continue that for another5 years
[7:43] and continue to to work on
[7:45] bridges across the state mostly
[7:47] in rural parts of this state
[7:49] where there's not as many prior
[7:50] you know they don't rise to the
[7:51] top in the
[7:54] so that would be about208
[7:56] million dollars worth of bridges
[7:58] and replace about 100. that's
[8:00] just a proposal but I wanted to
[8:01] kind of put it in front of you
[8:01] all as
[8:03] as an idea
[8:07] of course the ones that you
[8:09] hear about and the ones that are
[8:12] probably top of mind with the
[8:13] legislatively
[8:18] that have gone to the improved
[8:20] I70 program we officially and I
[8:22] I put in front of you this is
[8:23] kind of what we call it our
[8:24] place map but it gives you
[8:26] kind of where we're at and we
[8:28] also keep this one updated on a
[8:30] regular basis because it changes
[8:32] pretty often but we have5
[8:35] projects under construction
[8:38] in addition to one federally
[8:40] funded grant program to address
[8:41] truck parking
[8:43] I can tell you I was driving
[8:44] back from the airport last night
[8:47] in St. Louis at midnight and
[8:49] we're going to add another250
[8:50] truck parking spots we need
[8:56] as I was driving across I-70
[8:56] there were trucks parked
[8:58] everywhere every one of our rest
[9:02] areas was full every ramp, every
[9:03] shoulder so that'll be a great
[9:03] addition
[9:06] to our system when that gets
[9:07] done
[9:11] but I-70 is going really
[9:14] well. we've got 3 projects left
[9:16] to award we're going to do one
[9:18] in november and then two next
[9:20] year before before summer so by
[9:22] the end of really the fiscal
[9:23] year next year
[9:26] we will have every project on
[9:27] I-70 under a contract
[9:28] and most
[9:32] re ction so I'm sure if you've
[9:35] driven across I-70 you can see
[9:35] the progress that we're making
[9:41] so right now we've opened
[9:42] bridges at Green Valley at
[9:44] Columbia at Warrenton we have a
[9:46] new interchange of54 done up and
[9:47] running
[9:50] the expansion which was funded
[9:53] by traditional funding at I-64
[9:54] that ties into the Weville
[9:58] now is complete 3 lanes each
[9:59] direction up to the interchange
[10:03] and we have the first of five
[10:05] direct connections in Colombia
[10:05] open so if you're coming
[10:11] west or east70 to south63 now
[10:12] you have a direct connect ramp
[10:16] and you can see kind of what
[10:17] else is going on there at
[10:18] Colombia we're putting the big
[10:19] flyover
[10:22] in the not too distant future
[10:23] we're going to have that
[10:24] interchange
[10:24] done
[10:28] and then in in addition to the
[10:30] I-70 improvements the
[10:34] legislature put forward577
[10:35] million dollars of general
[10:35] revenue for I-44.
[10:40] and certainly the44 effort is
[10:41] underway
[10:44] right after that was passed by
[10:45] the legislature and signed by
[10:47] the governor we put $100 million
[10:49] of general revenue into the
[10:52] improvements in Springfield on
[10:54] that project and then here
[10:57] just a few months ago we broke
[11:00] ground on the 5 or470 million
[11:02] dollars design build project
[11:04] that addresses the stretch
[11:05] basically from
[11:08] just north of Springfield all
[11:10] the way down through and
[11:11] including some of the
[11:13] interchange work at Fidelity at
[11:16] I-49. a lot of that will be
[11:16] upgraded to three lanes each
[11:17] direct
[11:26] there's still a lot of other
[11:27] work that we're doing that
[11:28] basically is taking care of
[11:30] existing infrastructure on I-44
[11:32] we'll have a lot of work
[11:37] various places across the state
[11:38] about 126
[11:41] million dollars of interchange
[11:43] and and intersection
[11:44] improvements in Franklin
[11:45] County80 million dollars
[11:46] to rebuild
[11:52] so if you look across the entire
[11:54] state also we have another one
[11:55] of these place mats
[12:00] 44 is not continuous so there's
[12:02] bits there's pieces of it where
[12:04] we're working but you can see
[12:07] here both not only the general
[12:08] revenue funding but we've
[12:09] supplemented that with our
[12:09] traditional
[12:13] road road fund funding to
[12:14] make really good improvements
[12:16] across the s the entire corridor
[12:17] of I-44.
[12:17] so
[12:22] really between focus on bridge
[12:24] rural road programme I70 and
[12:28] I-44 all of those are either
[12:30] completed underway in some shape
[12:32] or form and making great
[12:38] so we're really we're really
[12:39] happy about that
[12:42] if you look at the rest of
[12:45] our program our our27 through
[12:45] 31stI
[12:50] we have about $13 billion of
[12:50] federal and state revenue for
[12:52] all modes of transportation over
[12:53] the next five years
[12:56] and really these have been the
[12:56] historic highs
[12:58] of funding
[13:06] we're starting to see kind of
[13:08] the peak of that as some of this
[13:09] general revenue
[13:14] and and certainly the other
[13:18] challenge is our federal bill
[13:20] will expire at the end of this
[13:21] month and there
[13:26] direction and sight on the
[13:26] federal bill so we're all kind
[13:27] of
[13:30] awaiting kind of what happens
[13:32] there but that's a that's a huge
[13:33] concern that we have
[13:35] we're we're working on a
[13:37] continuing resolution that's
[13:37] good till December 11th
[13:40] but what I can tell you is when
[13:42] you go through that kind of a
[13:43] process when it's two months
[13:46] hard to make commitments on
[13:48] projects because the federal
[13:49] money
[13:54] that's something we're all
[13:56] looking at and something we're
[13:58] concerned about but we're
[13:58] going to continue to do what we
[13:59] can do
[14:01] you know in general
[14:04] in previous times like this
[14:06] it usually gets worked out
[14:10] but you just got to be a
[14:10] little more cautious.
[14:16] so really with all that being
[14:17] said, you know
[14:20] this is probably the busiest
[14:21] construction season actually
[14:26] literally between our mainest
[14:28] work and the work of our
[14:30] contractors literally we're
[14:30] going to have 1000
[14:35] go out on our system so any
[14:36] corner of the state any place
[14:37] you
[14:40] going to see progress on
[14:46] I wanted just spend a little
[14:47] bit of time
[14:50] on number2 which is restoring
[14:51] the capability of our operations
[14:54] team you know we lost a lot of
[14:56] folks we lost a lot of momentum
[14:59] on being able to do things that
[15:02] our team does across the state
[15:04] and certainly we have asked in
[15:05] the budget process
[15:10] add some positions for our front
[15:12] line on the ground maintenance
[15:13] workers and thank you for
[15:15] it's it's shown
[15:19] dividends we are we are able to
[15:20] take care of a lot of those
[15:22] things that I I kind of
[15:26] dubbed as windshield issues you
[15:27] know we get to the stuff you
[15:28] have to get to you've got to put
[15:29] up the stop sign. you've got to
[15:31] patch the potholes. you got to
[15:32] do the stuff that is safety
[15:34] related but a lot of times
[15:34] without the
[15:40] trash it's the mowing it's the
[15:43] things that that you notice when
[15:44] you drive down the road and
[15:46] we've made tremendous progress
[15:47] on that front
[15:51] look at our labor hours spent on
[15:53] on sign maintenance we've got
[15:55] about 160,000 labor hours this
[15:55] year
[16:00] litter pick up about 139,000
[16:04] striping45,000 sweeping29,000
[16:05] and I know those numbers
[16:06] probably don't mean a lot to you
[16:08] but if you look at those
[16:10] compared to our five year
[16:11] average on doing that kind of
[16:13] work they're up on everyone
[16:14] anywhere from 10% more
[16:20] this year to as much as25% more
[16:22] than that and that's just work
[16:23] hours performing those kind of
[16:23] activities so
[16:26] our crews across the state
[16:27] are working hard to make sure
[16:27] that we're
[16:30] taking care of those issues and
[16:32] I think I've gotten some
[16:34] feedback from a lot of you and
[16:35] some others
[16:38] we're we're going to continue on
[16:39] that front
[16:43] the other thing that we are
[16:45] really focused on is is really
[16:45] the safety of our folks
[16:50] the behavior of the public is
[16:51] pretty atrocious
[16:54] our folks that are on the ground
[16:56] every day see things that would
[17:01] driving
[17:04] a lot of the things that
[17:06] we're dealing with so we're
[17:06] having to spend a little more
[17:08] effort on protecting our team
[17:10] we're putting more TMAs out
[17:12] there when we're doing work to
[17:13] protect them
[17:17] trying to do work at the right
[17:19] times but in work zones this
[17:20] year there have been24 people
[17:21] killed
[17:24] none of those have been modot
[17:25] employees they've been the
[17:26] public so these are dangerous
[17:27] places for our folks
[17:31] for the public if they if they
[17:33] don't do the things they need to
[17:34] do which is drive the work zones
[17:35] speed
[17:46] on the bigger safety front I
[17:46] think from the public
[17:47] perspective
[17:50] we have seen a year over year
[17:51] decline in fa
[17:56] this year year to date we're
[17:58] still5% under last year which
[18:03] we're seeing some real progress
[18:05] in distracted driving. one of
[18:06] the things that the legislature
[18:08] did was pass the sitting's
[18:09] benning distracted driving law
[18:13] and that has made a difference
[18:15] we've askedcambridge
[18:16] Telematics is one of the
[18:18] companies that insurance
[18:19] companies use to figure out what
[18:19] people are doing
[18:22] and from the data that they
[18:24] collect they've determined
[18:27] there's about a5% decrease in
[18:27] distracted driving
[18:30] from the first year that law was
[18:31] passed
[18:31] till now
[18:36] and so you know there were97
[18:38] distracted fatalities and
[18:39] distracted driving fatalities in
[18:39] Missouri in2025.
[18:42] and if we can get a5
[18:47] but there's still probably a lot
[18:49] of underreporting of distracted
[18:50] driving. I think that's one of
[18:52] the challenges that we face but
[18:55] it's progress nonetheless so you
[18:56] know we're asking people in the
[18:58] last three months of the year
[19:00] which are sometimes some of the
[19:00] most highly
[19:03] you know fatality laden months
[19:06] to take extra time to make sure
[19:07] they
[19:10] slow down and don't drive
[19:11] impaired
[19:14] if we can do that we can talk
[19:15] about 1/4 year in a row
[19:17] that that will happen
[19:22] and then the last one was making
[19:23] sure that we focus on customers
[19:24] you know I made the
[19:26] commitment I think when when I
[19:28] first took this job to say we
[19:30] need to be more available to the
[19:32] public we're doing a lot more
[19:34] public meetings that also
[19:35] included the
[19:42] to make sure that we have that
[19:44] relationship and that I hope you
[19:45] see that
[19:47] the commission has made a point
[19:48] that when they're traveling they
[19:49] do coffee with
[19:54] some some take advantage and
[19:54] some don't but we've had some
[19:56] really good conversations about
[19:58] kind of the local issues it's an
[19:59] opportunity
[20:03] and then then I hope you've had
[20:04] the chance to interact with your
[20:06] local teams our area
[20:08] engineers are on the ground all
[20:09] over the state
[20:10] and certainly are the experts
[20:18] we've made a concerted effort to
[20:20] try to make sure we're doing
[20:22] that. I think last year we we
[20:24] determined that we had a public
[20:26] meeting somewhere in the state
[20:27] on a project every week
[20:29] and many weeks we'd have two or
[20:29] three
[20:33] so we've had a lot of of public
[20:36] outreaches we try to put our our
[20:37] program in place
[20:40] and certainly working with our
[20:41] planning partners throughout the
[20:41] state
[20:48] we just are finishing up our our
[20:49] meetings across
[20:52] unfunded needs process that kind
[20:53] of
[20:58] a lot of great conversations
[20:58] around the state on what that
[20:59] should look like going forward
[21:04] I kind of wanted to just end
[21:06] though with the kind of the
[21:09] discussion of certainly the
[21:10] cost of doing business is going
[21:11] up
[21:16] high inflation during the COVID
[21:18] years it kind of ramped back
[21:19] down to what I would call a more
[21:20] normal level in the last few
[21:21] years
[21:24] but we're seeing it ramp up
[21:26] again everything we do is energy
[21:27] related.
[21:29] and we all know what energy
[21:30] prices are doing
[21:33] and it's it's having an adverse
[21:33] impact on what we do
[21:37] so whether it's the trucks that
[21:38] we buy which come from
[21:42] problems but but basically
[21:42] everything
[21:48] So5 dollars a gallon diesel5
[21:54] I was at a conference in
[21:54] California last week
[21:56] gallon
[22:02] I mean I filled up my gas rental
[22:04] car and it was6 dollars6
[22:08] but you know that
[22:10] that's something we're facing
[22:12] and I think it is we talk about
[22:14] the peak of the curve in funding
[22:18] it's it's not a crisis it's not
[22:18] something we have to address
[22:20] today but we've got to start
[22:21] talking about what is
[22:24] know do we need to think about
[22:26] indexing the fuel tax? Do we
[22:27] need to think
[22:33] efficiency of cars maybe not
[22:34] generating any more gross
[22:36] receipts but if we don't
[22:41] with revenue with inflation
[22:42] chewing up at the bottom
[22:46] just something that we have on
[22:48] our radar it's hard to talk
[22:50] about that when you have a
[22:51] record size program and you're
[22:51] doing construction everywhere
[22:53] but if you wait till you get to
[22:53] the
[22:56] backside of the curve it's too
[22:57] late and then it's hard to
[22:58] recover
[23:00] so that's just kind of a
[23:04] I think with that I will quit
[23:05] and
[23:06] be
[23:12] right, any questions for the
[23:13] director?
[23:18] Represent buttsir to inquire
[23:20] proceed thank you very much
[23:22] appreciate your presentation. I
[23:22] had two quick questions so
[23:26] the one is every time and
[23:28] obviously I'm driving from St.
[23:30] Louis to Jeff City on70 all the
[23:32] time and I'm just not really
[23:34] that I seemodadd the signs are
[23:36] there the workers are there, the
[23:38] driving is still crazy when you
[23:40] have construction zones is there
[23:44] more does there need to be more
[23:44] communication with like the
[23:48] highway patrol and you know the
[23:50] local sheriffs and even police
[23:52] departments I marvel at the lack
[23:54] and this is not a modi thing but
[23:56] maybe just if you're saying hey
[23:56] you know that's stretched
[23:58] through like warrenton Wright
[24:00] City and all that it's a
[24:02] dangerous stretch and you would
[24:04] think with the fatalities we've
[24:06] had and the accidents there
[24:07] would just be more of a police
[24:08] presence and I just think all of
[24:10] us as legislators yourself as a
[24:11] director ofmodo
[24:14] t that that story needs to be
[24:15] told. I hate to
[24:18] pick on outstate municipalities
[24:20] like that but I'm like I really
[24:20] don't believe
[24:24] at 10 a.m. you're responding to
[24:26] emergency911 calls the way they
[24:27] are in the city of St. Louis.
[24:30] just the presence of the vehicle
[24:30] with their cherries on top I
[24:32] think slows things down and a
[24:34] trooper just driving along at55
[24:35] miles an hour
[24:38] you know we do a lot that's one
[24:40] the 2nd 2nd part is I loved your
[24:42] last comment because eight years
[24:44] ago and I've loved working on
[24:44] transportation issues all eight
[24:46] years we were behind on the
[24:48] curve eight years ago and it was
[24:52] critical and just a parting
[24:54] thought that I've left20 times
[24:55] on the house floor and that is
[24:56] yes we need to index fixed
[25:00] charged things like the gas tax
[25:04] even though we increase it if we
[25:06] would just index it gradually
[25:06] every year to at least meet
[25:08] inflation. we won't be losing
[25:10] dollars so that's more a comment
[25:12] but the first one I'd like to
[25:13] know if is there more
[25:14] communication that we could be
[25:16] having at all levels because
[25:16] doggone it just during the
[25:18] middle of the day I just don't
[25:19] see much law enforcement
[25:22] yeah we have we actually have on
[25:24] I-70 an ongoing task force
[25:26] project by project with local
[25:28] law enforcement and then a
[25:28] global one with the highway
[25:30] patrol. They they have made a
[25:34] huge effort on enforcementer
[25:35] they
[25:36] they challenged with staffing
[25:37] just like a lot of places are
[25:42] I can tell you last night I
[25:42] drove home from the airport at
[25:44] 10 o'clock last night and there
[25:46] were of course we were doing a
[25:48] lot of night work but we I
[25:49] saw
[25:51] between warrenton and westville
[25:51] two troopers
[25:54] and two local
[25:56] so I was really happy last
[25:58] night because people were
[26:00] behaving but you're right I mean
[26:00] certainly more enforcement would
[26:01] would
[26:02] make things better
[26:06] but we're we're constantly
[26:08] talking about that with not only
[26:10] law enforcement but other first
[26:11] responders
[26:12] because if something balls up
[26:16] you know it causes a lot of
[26:20] problems and so far I can I
[26:20] think I can say this we haven't
[26:22] seen the latest quarter numbers
[26:24] but actually
[26:28] there are the same number of
[26:28] crashes on I-70
[26:30] post or
[26:34] preconstruction as there are
[26:35] during
[26:37] and one of the problems with
[26:38] I70, the reason we needed to
[26:40] make some improvements is
[26:42] because that quarter became so
[26:43] unreliable
[26:44] because of crashes
[26:46] you know, I mean you just
[26:48] couldn't count on being able to
[26:49] drive across the state
[26:51] without running into some kind
[26:54] of a big crash and so right now
[26:55] at least quarter of a ago
[26:58] it was kind of mind blowing to
[27:00] me is that the number of crashes
[27:01] has not gone up during
[27:01] construction.
[27:02] which is
[27:06] pretty amazing to me
[27:14] just to build off your comment
[27:14] there before I go to
[27:16] Representative Burton
[27:18] so the number of crashes on I-70
[27:20] hasn't increased but just it
[27:22] it's causing more blockages
[27:24] because of the more confined
[27:24] kids you've lost all that
[27:25] shoulder space because you're
[27:26] working that's right. sometimes
[27:28] it takes longer to clear them so
[27:31] that so the the delay is more
[27:33] and certainly that's one of
[27:34] the reasons when I said we're
[27:36] having these kind of task forces
[27:37] with all first responders
[27:40] is to make sure we can clear
[27:41] them quicker because it does
[27:42] have other impacts right? People
[27:45] people start using local roads
[27:47] and you know we get a lot of of
[27:47] feedback from
[27:48] some
[27:53] pushing your traffic off on our
[27:55] roads and so that's why we're
[27:56] trying to have those ongoing
[27:57] dialogues
[28:03] but yes you're right exactly
[28:04] right Representative Burton
[28:10] thank you Mr Cha to inquirer
[28:10] Chair.
[28:12] Hi gentlemen, how are you?
[28:13] excellent
[28:16] I know you touched on this a
[28:18] little bit but how ismodot
[28:19] ensuring a
[28:24] federal matching funds are not
[28:25] left on the table
[28:28] we never we never have and never
[28:28] will leave any federal funds on
[28:29] the table.
[28:30] we make sure
[28:32] because there's a limit
[28:34] everybody thinks there's like an
[28:36] infinite amount and you just
[28:38] keep matching there there's an
[28:41] allocated amount every year and
[28:41] we make sure that we get that
[28:45] and it's among it's it's
[28:46] through many programs so you
[28:48] can't just say you know there's
[28:49] a big bucket of money there are
[28:52] literally tens of wies of I
[28:53] don't know how many programs but
[28:54] there's a lot and you all you
[28:56] all are always being proactive
[28:57] and looking and seeing what's
[28:58] offered that would be like
[29:00] malpractice for us not to do
[29:02] that when it's an eightyw match
[29:04] in fact there's there's a thing
[29:06] in that happens every August
[29:07] that's called august
[29:07] redistribution
[29:10] and it's really not more money
[29:12] it's really to get the authority
[29:13] to use
[29:17] other places in the country and
[29:18] we're not taking it from states
[29:20] these are this comes out of
[29:20] programs like
[29:24] you know the tiffy alone program
[29:26] and things like that but once
[29:26] you get to the end of the year
[29:27] if you've got your ducks in a
[29:28] row
[29:30] you can ask for more of that
[29:32] spending authority and so like
[29:34] this year we asked for another2
[29:38] but it really
[29:42] it really requires that we take
[29:44] care of our business and that
[29:45] our locals take care of their
[29:47] business that's the biggest
[29:48] challenge OK thank you thank you
[29:50] we're certainly matching every
[29:52] dollar that we can get our hands
[29:54] on excellent it sounds like you
[29:54] went to a conference
[29:58] regarding transportation was
[30:00] there anything that you learned
[30:02] from that conference that other
[30:03] states are doing that you would
[30:03] like to bring here
[30:06] you know when I go to these
[30:09] conferences it reaffirms that
[30:10] we're doing a lot of good things
[30:12] in Missouri because a lot of
[30:13] things that they're
[30:13] kind of
[30:15] concerned about we
[30:20] have already kind of tackled but
[30:22] the biggest the biggest concern
[30:22] right now is reauthors the
[30:26] the transport the federal
[30:28] transportation bill and not
[30:30] having a replacement for that
[30:32] that's why it's got I think
[30:33] every state in the country
[30:34] concerned. OK, I just wanted to,
[30:36] I just wanted to ask that and
[30:37] I'm going to just go through
[30:40] pretty quick here how ismoatt
[30:42] looking this winter
[30:44] how many employees short are we
[30:46] where do we stand when it
[30:46] comes to that
[30:49] you know I'll just be pretty
[30:50] frank here we are doing really
[30:51] well through
[30:54] we were net positive hiring
[30:58] for maintenance month after
[30:59] month after month and we hit a
[30:59] wall
[31:02] yeah that was going to be my
[31:03] next question was what is the
[31:04] current turnover rate? Is it
[31:07] getting better or worse? I would
[31:08] say for all the hiring
[31:13] after the last four months were
[31:13] net negative for the year
[31:18] you know that's that's a
[31:20] challenge and can you compare
[31:22] that to last year? Is that where
[31:24] we were last year or net we're
[31:26] net better this year than last
[31:29] year but not by not by as much
[31:31] as to what we need ok
[31:35] how are you feeling about the
[31:36] speed limit increase? How is
[31:38] that process going? I saw that
[31:39] there is some pushback in the
[31:42] Ozarks does it seem like the
[31:44] commission is is
[31:46] excited about increasing the
[31:47] speed limit Are they hesitant
[31:50] where does that stand? I think
[31:52] we're being very methodical
[31:53] about it
[31:54] you know raising the speed
[32:06] could potentially have negative
[32:07] impacts
[32:10] so the approach that we've taken
[32:11] is
[32:16] objective criteria to look at
[32:17] every rural inter
[32:20] to make the decision to try to
[32:22] not make anything worse
[32:24] that process is underway
[32:28] the commitment that we would
[32:29] have all the
[32:34] and you were talking about
[32:35] something earlier that the
[32:38] legislator legislators passed
[32:39] that is reduced distracted
[32:39] drivers was that
[32:44] handsfree sitden's benning law
[32:45] which is the handsfree right
[32:46] that's that's what thought
[32:48] I'm just curious what your
[32:50] thoughts are on that real quick
[32:52] I still see tons of people
[32:54] holding their phones while
[32:56] they're driving. I lived in
[33:00] California for9 years and I
[33:01] think it was like a6700 dollars
[33:01] ticket if you were caught
[33:05] with anything in your hands that
[33:07] remotely look like a phone and
[33:08] so in California you did not
[33:09] pick up your phone
[33:11] nobodybody picked up their
[33:12] phone. it was just
[33:14] you knew it you got used to it
[33:16] and when I moved back here
[33:20] it it's just kind of astounding
[33:22] how many people still have their
[33:24] phones in their hands and I was
[33:25] curious if you think that the
[33:27] legislature should go further
[33:30] and allowing that to be a
[33:32] primary offense so they don't
[33:32] need to be committing a second
[33:34] infraction to be pulled
[33:34] overhould we be
[33:39] more proactive and just saying a
[33:40] police officer saw you holding
[33:42] your phone. you need to be
[33:43] pulled over and get a ticket
[33:45] Certainly that would have a
[33:46] bigger impact you know the
[33:48] impact that it currently has is
[33:49] a secondary has been
[33:52] but certainly I think we all see
[33:52] it right
[33:56] doing it so a primary
[34:02] distracted driving then a
[34:02] secondary OKok and I'm almost
[34:03] done here
[34:08] going back toannyi Muskoff and
[34:09] Caitlin
[34:12] and Jax and James Brooks and
[34:13] things like that we're coming up
[34:13] on5 years now
[34:16] the state of Missouri
[34:18] still owes
[34:23] an ny a Muskov $300,000 and I
[34:24] know this isn't all on you this
[34:26] has to do with the lawsuit and
[34:28] tort tort reform that's separate
[34:29] from Mmodo
[34:32] but I just want everybody on the
[34:34] committee to understand that
[34:35] that a modot worker was killed
[34:38] there were some problems
[34:42] many problems there and we're
[34:44] coming up on5 years and
[34:48] this family has still not been
[34:49] taken care of
[34:52] one last question and I
[34:54] appreciate you answering my
[34:55] questions
[34:58] is would you be open to
[35:00] increasing the penalty for
[35:00] speeding through work zones.
[35:02] I've done some research on
[35:04] thaturrently right now it's a250
[35:06] dollars ticket for speeding
[35:08] through a work zone which to me
[35:11] seems absurdly low and when you
[35:12] look at surrounding states and
[35:16] what the penalty is there it is2
[35:18] 345 times higher in some other
[35:19] states
[35:22] do you think that modot to
[35:22] protect their workers would like
[35:24] to see that penalty go up
[35:25] from250 dollars
[35:30] you know, I'm not sure it's the
[35:32] penalty that really matters
[35:32] certainly that
[35:37] we've also had conversations
[35:38] about photo enforcement of work
[35:40] zones that would be the most
[35:40] effective
[35:45] I had that here but I wasn't
[35:46] going to ask it yeah yeah I know
[35:48] that's a that's a controversial
[35:49] subject but a lot of states
[35:50] have done that
[35:55] for school zones and work zones
[35:56] in a lot of cases yeah but I
[35:58] think talking about cameras and
[36:00] stuff right now in the state of
[36:02] Missouri I don't know how far
[36:04] that's going to go which I think
[36:06] the second best thing would be
[36:07] to increase the penalty so
[36:09] people aren't not a little slap
[36:10] on the wrist and that and that
[36:12] we should be
[36:16] doing more to protect mo out
[36:18] workers and I think if people
[36:20] knew that the fine was higher it
[36:22] would be less apt to speed. I
[36:24] don't want to take everybody's
[36:25] time. I appreciate you answering
[36:26] my questions. Thank you Mr.
[36:27] Chair.
[36:29] p re s ent ative Mayhew
[36:32] yes Mr Chair, I have an inquiry
[36:35] or two here so thank you very
[36:36] much Mr Chair. thank you very
[36:38] much director for being here
[36:39] today and thank you for all of
[36:40] this information
[36:44] and it's much appreciated and
[36:46] very informative to
[36:51] to my friend from the Burton
[36:54] district it looks like we have a
[36:56] lot of opportunities to comment
[36:58] since it looks like our friends
[36:59] over on this side of the
[37:02] building decided that2.8 billion
[37:03] dollars in general revenue
[37:06] wasn't worth showing up for
[37:09] but let's talk about some of
[37:09] that
[37:11] if
[37:12] if you don't mind
[37:17] we besides the focus on
[37:18] bridges which I enthusiastically
[37:21] supported as you'll recall
[37:24] we additionally had2.8 billion
[37:28] in general revenue that went
[37:30] toward one single project
[37:34] of dubious distinction
[37:36] but we've had other
[37:37] contributions from general
[37:37] revenue
[37:40] and I liked your earlier comment
[37:46] and statement about how we were
[37:48] supposed to be supporting
[37:50] transportation projects in fact
[37:53] if it's not exactly specific at
[37:55] least it's my understanding that
[37:56] the way the constitution's
[37:58] written there was never any
[38:01] intent that the legislature
[38:02] would support transportation
[38:04] projects with general revenue
[38:06] and now we have over the years
[38:08] and certainly significantly in
[38:10] most recent years
[38:13] but the gas tax was supposed to
[38:17] provide all that funding I think
[38:17] it's fairly clear in the
[38:18] constitution
[38:22] the problem that we've gotten
[38:26] into is is that as you and I
[38:28] have discussed many times that
[38:29] we
[38:32] need a different way to fund
[38:34] transportation projects one that
[38:35] is as
[38:38] the constitutional amendment
[38:39] which allowed for a commission
[38:40] intended
[38:43] so that it would be
[38:44] self-supporting
[38:50] however we are here today and
[38:52] you had mentioned earlier that
[38:54] there are some challenges from a
[38:56] cost standpoint we've seen some
[38:57] significant increases in
[38:58] construction costs but
[39:04] missouri is unique in that
[39:06] increase in construction costs
[39:08] you and I had discussed many
[39:11] times in the past we had a two
[39:14] year period there where we had
[39:15] a48% increase in construction
[39:17] costs in Missouri and compared
[39:20] to even Illinois at the time who
[39:21] was sitting about 16% if I
[39:21] remember correctly
[39:26] and we you attributed that to
[39:29] simply logistics supply chain
[39:29] etc.
[39:33] and which I'm still a bit
[39:35] confused of why Oklahoma or
[39:38] Illinois had somehow was able to
[39:39] manage that and we did not
[39:40] but
[39:43] knowing that you were completely
[39:46] honest with me on what you felt
[39:47] like was the cause there
[39:49] but don't you think
[39:52] that dumping as much money
[39:56] into the into heavy construction
[39:59] generally through the arpa funds
[40:01] and through this
[40:03] considerable amount of money
[40:05] that was spent on I-70
[40:07] contributed to that increase in
[40:08] construction costs in Missouri
[40:10] don't think there's any doubt
[40:12] about it right? You put you put
[40:12] more sup
[40:16] some of that
[40:18] now if you look at the
[40:22] inflation over the last five
[40:24] years we're right on par with
[40:26] our neighbors when we have come
[40:29] a little bit closer to our
[40:29] neighbors somewhat
[40:32] but
[40:34] we can see this reaching down at
[40:36] the county level we're seeing
[40:37] offy bridges double
[40:43] in bid price which admittedly
[40:44] diesel fuel has gone up that's a
[40:46] significant component laborbor
[40:48] costs have gone up but they
[40:48] haven't gone up 100%
[40:54] and so you know we there's
[40:56] really only one difference in
[40:58] what happens now and what
[41:00] happened then is that we have
[41:04] spent a lot of money at one time
[41:05] on transportation
[41:07] related issues not just
[41:08] transportation, heavy
[41:10] construction in general and
[41:12] there's a limited ability of the
[41:14] contractors that we have now in
[41:16] order to do that work wouldn't
[41:17] you agree
[41:19] you know our industry has done a
[41:20] really good job of of
[41:22] taking on that
[41:26] spike. I mean if you look at if
[41:27] you look at I-70
[41:30] we're getting prices that are
[41:32] amazing now you may and I think
[41:34] we've talked about it is does
[41:35] that put pressure on other
[41:36] projects really when we look at
[41:37] it it hasn't
[41:42] you know certainly bridges have
[41:43] gone up for us
[41:47] when I look at that bridge
[41:48] prices have doubled in 12 years
[41:52] so if you do the average of in
[41:57] that's about the inflation rate
[41:58] of of what the rest of the world
[41:59] is going
[42:00] that's
[42:02] that's an issue
[42:06] but it's not going to go away
[42:06] it's not going to get better
[42:07] Well
[42:10] it will when we run out of money
[42:13] I mean we'll see prices
[42:14] moderate. My point on all of
[42:15] that is is that
[42:18] I mean from an engineering
[42:20] perspective you and I are both
[42:21] engineers
[42:22] wouldn't it have been a more
[42:23] prudent
[42:26] to stretch these dollars out
[42:27] over a longer period of time
[42:30] and and then
[42:34] result in lower inflationary
[42:35] pressure
[42:40] that's not what happened we know
[42:40] we know that's not what happened
[42:44] a lot of the one time money was
[42:45] directed
[42:48] normal program money
[42:52] is kind of consistent and we try
[42:52] to keep it that way
[42:58] exact same thing there's no
[43:00] there's no anomaly here in
[43:02] Missouri. Well I mean at least
[43:06] in our neighborhood I don't see
[43:08] any adjacent state three lane
[43:10] and I70 for instance in each
[43:12] direction I don't see other
[43:14] states contributing2.8 billion
[43:16] dollars to general revenue
[43:19] toward a single project which
[43:22] has limited effects statewide so
[43:23] I think there's some significant
[43:24] differences between let's say a
[43:26] Kansas and a Missouri with
[43:30] regard to that and and
[43:32] admittedly a lot of the
[43:33] contractors who would be
[43:36] interested in the size of the
[43:38] projects are working in other
[43:40] areas and limits our pool of
[43:42] people who would be available to
[43:44] bid on these projects in the
[43:44] first place
[43:46] but you know for instance you
[43:48] and I discussed this that you
[43:50] know2.8 billion dollars would
[43:52] have completely eliminated ier
[43:54] one completely iminated tier two
[43:56] and most of tier 3 of the high
[43:57] priority and funded need
[43:59] which were a lot of those were
[44:00] projects that have been sitting
[44:02] around for a long time safety
[44:04] most of them safety relateder
[44:07] throughout the entire state but
[44:10] as you astutely pointed out is
[44:12] well too late now closing the
[44:14] gate after the cow's out of the
[44:16] barn doesn't do us much good but
[44:18] where where I would be at on
[44:22] this is that we were assured
[44:24] from many conversations that2.8
[44:26] billion dollars would be
[44:27] more than enough
[44:30] to accomplish this project of
[44:32] three lanning entirely across
[44:34] the state from border to border
[44:38] and yet if I do the math on what
[44:39] we've got sitting here in front
[44:40] of us we're way over 3.1
[44:43] billion dollars
[44:48] and so the question mark and I
[44:48] already know the answer to this
[44:50] question because you clearly
[44:51] laid it out here
[44:52] is is that
[44:56] what were you talking about at
[44:57] that time when you said it
[44:58] was2.8 and no more
[45:04] well the two the .8 billion was
[45:06] to add a third lane to I-70
[45:08] across the state we're going to
[45:12] do way more than that for2.8
[45:15] every every project so far has
[45:17] not only added a third lane but
[45:18] it's it's entirely re
[45:24] not only are we going to get a
[45:25] third
[45:29] systems
[45:30] that's going to
[45:34] and there were a lot of
[45:40] prioritized that did far more
[45:41] than
[45:44] lane so the conversation was
[45:50] lane across the state and we
[45:52] have gotten like extremely huge
[45:54] value by the process we've used
[45:55] by our industry
[45:59] I can tell you that that project
[46:04] the value on that bar none
[46:04] is
[46:09] and that additional money to get
[46:10] to it's 3.3 bill
[46:14] has gotten
[46:18] some of those have been driven
[46:19] by economic
[46:28] see probably some
[46:38] Quite frankly some of the
[46:43] is going to be that good
[46:47] well yeah I mean for what we're
[46:48] paying we better have a high
[46:50] quality project you know over20
[46:53] million dollars a mile is pretty
[46:54] expensive when you already own
[46:55] the real estate and all the
[46:58] grading is done so that's a
[47:00] that's a significant increase in
[47:02] construction costs and and yeah
[47:04] I would say that we're getting
[47:06] pretty good value for our buck
[47:08] whenever we compare that to a50%
[47:12] increase in construction costs a
[47:13] few years back
[47:13] so
[47:16] but that still means that we had
[47:18] a50% increase in construction
[47:20] costs during that period that
[47:22] others did not experience
[47:24] so a lot of it
[47:28] if Ireread everything correctly
[47:30] is federal dollars that were
[47:32] used to do improvements but
[47:34] whenever you say that was for
[47:36] the three lanning the2.8 billion
[47:40] your statement and maybe you
[47:42] weren't clear enough was that
[47:45] and and your predecessor was
[47:46] that2.8 billion would be
[47:50] sufficient to do that work you
[47:51] didn't say that oh yeah and by
[47:52] the way we're going to do these
[47:54] other projects how, except for
[47:55] one that you
[47:57] did mention and I appreciated it
[48:00] and that was the 185 million a
[48:02] lot of it was an8020 match for
[48:05] the flyover in Colombia and you
[48:08] had included that as part of
[48:09] this new three lanning project
[48:10] on the first section
[48:14] and so and in which case that
[48:18] one also you had made a
[48:18] commitment at the time that that
[48:19] would be done in 3 years
[48:23] and I think August was the three
[48:24] year line so I'd say you're
[48:26] probably pretty close to that
[48:28] estimate and it looks like
[48:30] you're on track for your seven
[48:32] year estimate. I'm still remains
[48:34] to be seen and and that's very
[48:37] good but but at significant cost
[48:38] in order to do that because
[48:40] those compressed timelines also
[48:42] tend to add cost to the project
[48:43] correct?
[48:48] they don't think it's happening
[48:49] here
[48:49] and we're getting
[48:52] well I would respectfully
[48:54] disagree with that because
[48:55] that's just the way the world
[48:57] works. You tell a contractor
[48:58] he's got a week to get something
[49:00] that would normally take a month
[49:01] to get done and you're going to
[49:02] get an increase in construction
[49:06] costs because it's possible and
[49:07] especially when you do a design
[49:10] build situation but the on the
[49:14] the other thing that we talked
[49:16] about on I-70 and you assured us
[49:18] that we wouldn't have a problem
[49:19] with it
[49:20] was that they had developed a
[49:22] traffic control plan that would
[49:24] result in very few delays and as
[49:28] representative from the butts
[49:30] district pointed out is it seems
[49:32] like every time I try to get to
[49:36] that exit at Kingdom City still
[49:38] to this day we're seeing
[49:40] stoppages there's I mean the
[49:42] traffic comes to a complete stop
[49:44] now it's better now because that
[49:47] westbound lane is I'd say nearly
[49:50] done I think apparently but they
[49:54] folks are telling me about I-70
[49:55] turning into a parking lot and a
[49:56] lot of location
[49:58] s along through thereon
[49:59] accidents that occur
[50:04] and and so which was a concern
[50:05] of mine but there was a concern
[50:07] of others who live and travel
[50:09] along that corridor about how
[50:12] that was going to work there's
[50:14] significant sections left to
[50:15] rebuild are we
[50:16] addressing the
[50:19] the shortcomings of some of
[50:20] these other traffic control
[50:22] plans that and try to address
[50:24] that situation I mean our
[50:25] commitment is to keep two lanes
[50:25] of traffic open
[50:28] and except for off
[50:33] Certainly the the delays are
[50:35] caused by crashes.s there's no
[50:36] doubt about that. Well, but
[50:38] you'd pointed out that crashes
[50:40] are not a significant factor
[50:43] here in a in the in a difference
[50:44] in delays from I-70 before and
[50:45] I-70 now
[50:50] was that my understanding if you
[50:51] look at the data that's what it
[50:52] would tell you is that it's not
[50:53] that much different than it was
[50:53] before but
[50:56] and and that kind of actually
[50:59] makes sense because if there's a
[51:00] delay in construction there's
[51:03] less opportunity for a crash at
[51:06] speed or distraction or whatever
[51:08] other than those rear enders
[51:10] which brings me to the other one
[51:11] related to that of a
[51:14] 01 last thing on that was
[51:17] you're talking about truck
[51:18] parking which I think is
[51:20] completely necessary but I don't
[51:21] think we ever talked about that
[51:24] in budget committee or or even
[51:25] in transportation committee
[51:26] about the truck parking and
[51:30] and you know the utilization of
[51:31] the rest areas which by the way
[51:32] we don't have rest areas anymore
[51:33] except for
[51:37] Webster County I think is a full
[51:38] rest area. I can't think of any
[51:39] other one. all the rest of them
[51:40] have been
[51:42] turned into porta potties with a
[51:43] truck parking
[51:46] we'll still have rest areas we
[51:47] have one at St. Clair. we have
[51:48] one at oh yeah that's right I'm
[51:50] sorry St Clai Conway
[51:54] we have on St Clair the one that
[51:56] has the inside pull off that
[51:58] causes all the accidents just
[51:59] dont
[52:01] which oh good is it going to go
[52:03] to outside? No, it's going to
[52:04] stay where it's at OK, so we're
[52:06] not going to see a reduction in
[52:08] accidents there but truck
[52:10] parking was a federal grant that
[52:12] we went and competed for has
[52:13] nothing to do with the right so
[52:13] you're just
[52:16] taking the opportunity to
[52:17] include that OK, we're good and
[52:18] thank you for pointing that out.
[52:22] so some of the other concerns
[52:23] that my constituents have
[52:27] revolve around the way that some
[52:28] of these improvements have been
[52:30] contracted and so for instance
[52:33] the bridges across I-44 in the
[52:34] in the ralllah area
[52:38] so we are seeing extended
[52:39] periods where the contractor's
[52:39] not working on
[52:44] a bridge they mobilize on the
[52:44] project they close down the
[52:46] lanes and then nobody shows up
[52:47] for a month
[52:51] and and it's a so while that
[52:52] might be ok at SugartreeRoad
[52:53] which is low impact
[52:56] the
[53:00] the bridge that goes over to the
[53:02] the commercial center in ralah
[53:04] has been one lane for since it
[53:08] since the contractor started
[53:10] work and I've been by there on
[53:12] wednesdays with the sun shining
[53:13] bright and not a soul in sight
[53:16] and
[53:18] understanding that there's a
[53:18] certain amount of programming
[53:20] that goes in on how you develop
[53:22] the construction timeline for
[53:23] something
[53:26] since it was the same contractor
[53:28] working on 3 maybe4 bridges at
[53:30] the same time it looked to me
[53:32] like they were spread pretty
[53:34] thin and so they were doing a
[53:36] little bit on this one this week
[53:36] and then a little bit on that
[53:37] one next week
[53:41] and so do we have somebody
[53:42] managing that construction
[53:44] schedule so that those higher
[53:47] priority projects will be
[53:48] accomplished in a reasonable
[53:49] amount of time
[53:52] we've given them a contract with
[53:53] a completion date I'm sure but
[53:54] I'll look I'm not sure the
[53:56] details of that one but we'll
[53:57] look at it guarantee you that a
[53:57] completion date
[54:00] but they had four bridges to do
[54:02] at the same time and so but they
[54:04] I'm guessing this is a guess
[54:06] that a limited number of people
[54:10] available and so where maybe you
[54:12] or I would have said something
[54:13] like well hey do this bridge
[54:15] first because of the commercial
[54:19] impact to city ofallah.t about
[54:20] it to give you a good answer so
[54:21] on the
[54:24] on I-44
[54:28] I love what you're doing here.
[54:30] there's a lot of a lot of good
[54:31] projects in here
[54:31] however
[54:35] and and maybe you can highlight
[54:38] some of the other detail on it
[54:42] right now the Arlington Hill
[54:44] climbing lane is the
[54:46] acceleration part of that lane
[54:48] is way too short. The trucks
[54:50] aren't even using the climbing
[54:50] lane. We have a climbing lane
[54:52] there but they don't use it
[54:54] because they get trapped now a
[54:56] few years backmodot had done an
[54:58] extension of that but it still
[55:02] didn't go far enough as part of
[55:02] this project for these
[55:05] improvements on I-44 is part of
[55:07] that to make those improvements
[55:09] in those climbing areas so that
[55:12] so that we get to put the trucks
[55:13] over there where they belong.
[55:16] part of it is not sure don't
[55:18] know that terminology which
[55:20] one's a little tiny that's where
[55:21] the bridge crosses a little pa
[55:23] that's Arlington but yes we are
[55:24] making improvements to climbing
[55:26] lanes as part of these projects
[55:30] so if I could interject real
[55:30] quick herere representative I
[55:32] know there's other meetings
[55:34] happening here at 11 a.m. so if
[55:35] we could try and got I got a
[55:36] couple more minutes you do and
[55:38] so
[55:39] because these are things that
[55:39] have been
[55:42] pressing for quite a little
[55:44] while and and we had these
[55:48] issues long for a long period of
[55:50] time on I-44. This wasn't
[55:52] something that created I liked
[55:54] the project where you're finally
[55:56] rebuilding that stretch from the
[56:00] sleeper exit on toward toward
[56:02] Waynesville that pavement's
[56:04] horrible shape and has been for
[56:05] several years
[56:09] but I also don't see a climbing
[56:09] lane at
[56:12] Northview Hill which is between
[56:16] a marshfield and Springfield and
[56:16] that's one of the biggest
[56:20] slowdowns on anywhere on I-44 is
[56:22] that just not highlighted here
[56:24] or we haven't considered that
[56:25] don't think that that's not in
[56:25] our plan right now
[56:27] all right
[56:31] so last thing I've got Mr
[56:32] Chair is
[56:35] the the gas tax that we passed a
[56:37] few years ago
[56:38] so
[56:41] it's not bringing in what we
[56:42] thought it was going to is it
[56:44] no I think it's
[56:49] probably about what we projected
[56:52] you know certainly we we have
[56:54] projected that gas tax revenue
[56:58] will turn flat and slightly
[57:00] decline in the out years and
[57:02] we're every time we've projected
[57:04] that we've seen a growth in
[57:07] gallons burned and really it's
[57:08] about how many gallons get
[57:09] burned right because it doesn't
[57:12] matter what the price is and so
[57:13] we have been pleasantly
[57:13] surprised
[57:16] that when we had projected
[57:18] flattening of the gas tax
[57:18] revenue
[57:20] that for the last three or four
[57:24] years we the the gallons burned
[57:26] has gone up enough that it
[57:28] continues to rise at a really
[57:30] modest pace but I think now what
[57:31] we're seeing is that
[57:36] that flattening is happening and
[57:38] so for our next five year plan
[57:40] we're projecting0.% reduction
[57:43] tax part of revenue
[57:46] Now I don't know what it's you
[57:50] know550 diesel and4 dollars gas
[57:52] is going to do to consumption I
[57:53] think if that
[57:56] we'll probably see a little
[57:58] different outcome here. Well
[57:59] that's certainly depresses
[58:02] demand so continuing on it there
[58:04] was a component of that gas tax
[58:06] where people could file for a
[58:08] rebate and that was one of the
[58:10] selling points to the
[58:12] legislature and that well you
[58:14] know it's going to be mostly
[58:14] people from out of state that's
[58:16] going to be paying this and that
[58:21] you know that person can the
[58:24] citizen can apply for a refund
[58:25] and so therefore
[58:28] it will have less impact on
[58:30] people in the state of Missouri
[58:34] so talking to the department
[58:35] of Revenue
[58:37] that is there's an enormous
[58:37] amount of fraud
[58:40] involved in it. They were
[58:43] fortunately able to catch some
[58:44] of it but there's still on the
[58:46] order of a couple of million
[58:50] dollars in claims as of2025
[58:51] and
[58:53] they've spent a significant
[58:56] amount of time dealing with
[59:00] the rebate issue to the point
[59:02] where they're spending a lot
[59:04] more money dealing with this
[59:05] particular gas tax
[59:08] than they would with anything
[59:09] else that they do for you guys
[59:12] and there's a significant amount
[59:14] of money that is spent not just
[59:16] with that but also doing the
[59:17] collections for the regular gas
[59:18] tax
[59:20] but there was a couple of things
[59:21] that came out of it that
[59:24] that was shocking to me
[59:26] the
[59:30] in2025 the average refund was
[59:32] 162 $163
[59:34] which I think that's a little
[59:36] bit high for an average citizen
[59:37] to start with but
[59:41] the largest refund was for278
[59:44] almost279,000 dollars
[59:46] so that was one
[59:52] person one group one individual
[59:54] that was making a claim
[59:57] of279,000 dollars and we assumed
[59:58] that since they are probably a
[1:00:00] large user that they do that
[1:00:01] frequently every year
[1:00:04] but and I certainly don't think
[1:00:06] that was the intent but we're
[1:00:06] obviously talking about someone
[1:00:08] who does a lot of transportation
[1:00:10] so a trucking company of some
[1:00:10] kind or another but they're all
[1:00:12] under26,000 we know that so we
[1:00:14] can imagine who that might be
[1:00:18] and so
[1:00:20] but it was told to us that those
[1:00:22] were the companies that most
[1:00:24] supported the gas tax because
[1:00:26] they wanted to see improvements
[1:00:27] in transportation
[1:00:29] Turns out that might not be true
[1:00:36] what we've seen is about a it's
[1:00:36] about a half
[1:00:42] of people asking for the grocery
[1:00:43] receipts
[1:00:46] 05 % is what the refund amount
[1:00:48] has been lastst question for you
[1:00:50] on that. I was told by an
[1:00:52] employee of the department of
[1:00:56] Transportation that early on the
[1:01:00] 11 of the largest refunders was
[1:01:00] the Department of
[1:01:01] Transportation. Is there any
[1:01:02] truth to that
[1:01:08] can you check into that for me
[1:01:12] and tell us we're not asking for
[1:01:14] refunds of the gas tax so no one
[1:01:15] no
[1:01:19] no subdepartment no one in any
[1:01:22] official capacity with modot had
[1:01:23] been getting refunds
[1:01:27] back to the department by using
[1:01:28] gas tax receipts
[1:01:34] you say that affirmatively
[1:01:34] without checking
[1:01:39] but you will check for us
[1:01:41] right thank you very much. thank
[1:01:43] you Mr. Chair. right thank
[1:01:45] youpresentative Burton. you had
[1:01:47] a quick sidebar thank you Mr.
[1:01:49] Chair. I just wanted to point
[1:01:52] out I have appreciated this
[1:01:54] committee so much and the folks
[1:01:56] that sit on it especiallyres
[1:01:58] representative from the Mayhew
[1:01:59] district and I just wanted to
[1:02:00] point this out I'm hearing
[1:02:02] things like I like your project
[1:02:04] you're on track. I appreciate
[1:02:05] that it's better now
[1:02:08] oh good, I agree with you there.
[1:02:10] I love what you're doing there.
[1:02:12] There's a lot of good projects
[1:02:14] and I think we've really come
[1:02:17] full circle and I just had to
[1:02:18] point that out. I don't know
[1:02:20] ifpresentative Mayhew is looking
[1:02:22] to join modot again. I honestly
[1:02:24] think he would be very
[1:02:25] beneficial but I just had to
[1:02:26] point that out. Thank you, Mr.
[1:02:29] Chair redirect Mr Chair proceed
[1:02:34] it would not be accurate to say
[1:02:35] that it was a
[1:02:39] a full endorsement of everything
[1:02:40] thatmodot has done in the last
[1:02:43] few years but there have been
[1:02:46] under your direction some
[1:02:47] significant improvements. I will
[1:02:48] grant the gentleman from the
[1:02:50] Burton district that and I
[1:02:52] appreciate that which has always
[1:02:54] been my goal as you well
[1:02:56] remember that all of my
[1:02:58] discussions were about what will
[1:03:00] make it better, what will save
[1:03:02] us money and I'm glad to see
[1:03:04] that we are moving in the right
[1:03:05] direction. Well, I always have
[1:03:05] issues
[1:03:08] with one thing or another I
[1:03:12] think that's my job here so but
[1:03:14] now you don't have to worry
[1:03:14] about it anymore. Someone else
[1:03:16] will take the mantle
[1:03:19] perhapspresentative Burton will
[1:03:21] take over from where I'm leaving
[1:03:23] off.
[1:03:26] thank you very much appreciate
[1:03:27] your
[1:03:28] interest in transportation
[1:03:30] that's a good thing and on that
[1:03:33] happy note I will we will
[1:03:34] conclude this hearing on the
[1:03:35] joint Committee on
[1:03:35] Transportation
[1:03:37] we are adjourned