Without the sales tax it desired to fund state transportation spending in place, the Missouri Department of Transportation is moving forward with a new plan called the Missouri 325 System.
Richard Bose pens a snarky response to the Missouri Department of Transportation's (MoDOT) recent announcement of the Missouri 325 System.
"While it is mainly a way to scare voters and legislators into finding more funding for MoDOT, this plan is actually a step in the right direction," writes Bose. "MoDOT will only make capital improvements to 8,000 of its 34,000 miles of responsibility. The rest will only receive basic maintenance."
Bose describes Missouri 325 as a "stick," created by MoDOT in response to voters' rejection of Amendment 7, a 0.75 percent sales tax increase (i.e., the "carrot"). Bose obviously feels no sympathy for MoDOT's plight.
Bose goes on to attack every tenet of MoDOT's approach to road building before reaching the following conclusion: "While not perfect, let’s give the Missouri 325 plan five or ten years. It would give our population and economy a chance to catch up to the bloated system we’ve burdened ourselves with while ferretting out what parts are truly valuable. A period of constraint will help us break bad habits, rearrange priorities, and take us to a better place."
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