Tagged: transportation

Missouri House members have endorsed a 1-cent sales tax that would be dedicated to paying for state and local transportation projects.

Missouri House Democrats are expressing concerns about a proposal to increase the state sales tax by a penny to boost funding for transportation projects.

Senators last month approved a proposed a 1-cent sales tax that would generate nearly $8 billion over a decade to fund state and local transportation projects.

The tax would require voter approval and would go back on a statewide ballot after 10 years.

Two Missouri state senators are proposing a 1-cent sales tax for 10 years to pay for transportation needs.

Republican Mike Kehoe, of Jefferson City, and Democrat Ryan McKenna, of Crystal City, scheduled a news conference about the plan Tuesday along U.S. 50, several miles east of the of the state Capitol.

Missouri transportation officials say funding for construction and improvements fell from $1.2 billion to less than $700 million during the past year.

Missouri drivers may notice some ominous messages along the state's roadsides.

The Missouri Department of Transportation says it has begun using its electronic message signs along highways to report the number of people who have died on the state's roads so far this year. The messages also include the percentage of those killed who were not wearing seat belts.

The new safety campaign comes as Missouri has seen a 14 percent increase in traffic fatalities this year — an unwelcome reversal after six years of declining fatality figures.