The Missouri legislature returns to session on Monday. One of Governor Mike Parson's key proposals in the budget this year is an expansion of Interstate 70 across the state — however, that plan was stripped from the bill by House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith.
One group, Missourians for Transportation Investment, is still vying for the road's expansion. Morgan Mundell, chair of the board of directors for the organization, tells KMOX that he wasn't surprised to see the plan taken out of the budget, because legislators have lots of different approaches to how to fund roads and bridges. But, he said, now is the right time to expand I-70.
"Missouri is sitting on billions of dollars of surplus monies, both from the federal COVID and economic stimulus, and then record revenue collections. And we feel it now's the time to expand it because we can do it without a tax increase," he said. "And we can do it without having to do toll roads, which has been discussed multiple times over the last one, two years."
But besides now being the right time, Mundell said, there are plenty of Missourians whose lives will be made easier by this expansion — and it's beneficial for manufacturing plants and economic growth, he said.
"Missouri contains seven of the top 25 International cargo hubs in the United States," he said. "So we need interstates that can handle the traffic and can serve as an economic driver for the state."
I-70 carries a third of all daily interstate traffic in Missouri from state line to state line, Mundell said. Plus, it carries about 60,000 passenger cars and 15,000 commercial trucks every day. "And we actually expect truck traffic to greatly increase there in the St. Louis area, just outside of St. Louis, with the opening of the American foods group processing facility in Wright city," he added. "That facility will be processing 2,400 head of cattle per day. So we expect to see traffic go up in that section."
Hear more from Morgan Mundell on the Missourians for Transportation Investment on the quest to expand I-70:
Copyright 2023 KMOX (Audacy). All Rights Reserved.
Follow KMOX | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Listen on the free Audacy app.
Tell your smart speaker to play K M O X.
