OOIDA Call to Action - Missouri Members
April 7, 2006

Heads up, Missouri truckers! A bill in the Missouri Senate needs your urgent attention.

The Senate Transportation Committee is scheduled to hear testimony at 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 11, on a bill - HB1380 - that would allow tolls on a proposed Interstate 70 bridge across the Mississippi River between Illinois and Missouri.

It is vital you contact the committee members - if possible, prior to the 1 p.m. start time - and let them know this is nothing more than a back door way of putting the state's highways up for sale to the highest bidder. And that it is inappropriate for lawmakers to do that, especially without allowing their constituents to vote on it.

The bill would allow Missouri to partner with private business - most likely a foreign entity - to pay for, build and operate a new $910 million bridge in St. Louis that would carry Interstate 70 traffic over the river.

The new bridge is expected to relieve traffic on the Poplar Street Bridge, which carries traffic from Interstates 55, 64 and 70. More than 120,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily.

Supporters say tolls are needed to help pay for the state's share of the cost to complete the project. But officials in Illinois say they don't want a toll bridge. They would rather tap into state and federal funds to pay for the bridge.

While it's too early to know what the toll rates might be, a Goldman Sachs report detailed how much earnings could be generated with a $2 or $3 fee to cross the bridge. It's reasonable to believe the truck rate would be three or four times that amount.

HB1380 has already passed the House. If it is approved in the Senate it would move to Gov. Matt Blunt's desk for his signature.

To contact the Senate Transportation Committee members, visit www.senate.mo.gov/06info/comm/TRAN.htm. Click on the committee member names to get their contact information. You can also call OOIDA's Membership Department at 1-800-444-5791 and they'll look it up.