Missouri’s Blue Ribbon Citizen Committee on Transportation Needs released its recommendations to improve the state’s transportation infrastructure Tuesday.
The panel led by former-Senator Bill McKenna and former-Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives Rod Jetton said in a statement that Missouri is short between $600 million and $1 billion annually to pay for necessary improvements.
“I am pleased that transportation funding is being considered a priority,” said Rod Reid, vice-president of Shepherd Hills Factory Outlets in Lebanon and chairman of the Missouri Transportation and Development Council. “Without an efficient transportation infrastructure, Missouri’s economy will be stuck in traffic. MTD has been a leader in transportation issues for many years and will be a part of making difficult decisions to ensure Missouri roads fuel Missouri’s economy.”
MTD is a division within Associated Industries of Missouri. The interest group will discuss the blue ribbon committee’s recommendations and whether to endorse a policy, said Reid. If MTD decides to endorse a transportation funding solution in 2013, the group would then propose the idea to AIM’s policy committee.
“We need to take care of the system that we have,” said McKenna. “We’ve got a huge investment here in the state of Missouri.”
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