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MoDOT Director: Toll roads only option if state wants to rebuild I-70 right now

The head of the Missouri Department of Transportation says charging tolls on Interstate 70 is the only real option for funding reconstruction of the highway, if the state wants to do something about it right now.

MoDOT Director Kevin Keith told a gathering of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and IndustryThursday that converting I-70 to a toll road could have short-term benefits, namely, job creation.

“This creates, say, middle of the road, 10,000 jobs a year for the 6 to 8 years while it’s under contract," Keith said.  "(It would return) $30 billion of economic development in our state with a rebuilt Interstate 70."

Keith says the only other likely option to pay for rebuilding I-70 would be to raise fuel taxes, but tax hikes remain unpopular among both GOP lawmakers and Democratic Governor Jay Nixon – and Keith adds that he thinks any public referendum to raise fuel taxes would be defeated by Missouri voters.

Charging tolls on I-70 would also require legislative approval. State Senator Mike Kehoe(R, Jefferson City) supports the idea, but says it won’t be an easy sell.

“I think there’s universal agreement that I-70 needs to have some repairs done, and be rebuilt, quite frankly," Kehoe said.  "We (have) just got to find a way to pay for it, (and) this is just one option to do that, but it seems like as time goes on, it seems to be the most reasonable option.”

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.