DOT funding rescission hurts local counties

Mike McCoy photo The cut in bridge repair funding leaves some Stoddard County bridges that are in disrepair without any hope for replacement in the near future.

Stoddard County stands to lose $329,207.09 in bridge replacement funding after the funding was rescinded due to a clause in the 2005 transportation bill. Every county in the state is affected. About $2.1 million for county bridge programs in Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) District 10 is being rescinded.

The money was part of the funding that Congress planned to allocate when it passed a transportation bill in 2005. A clause in the legislation let the funding be rescinded unless Congress acted to change it. Congress failed to take any action, though State Representative Jo Ann Emerson said she is working to restore the funding.

Stoddard County currently has $655,439.31 remaining in the Off-System Bridge Replacement Program. That money comes back to the county from federal taxes to be used for county and city bridge improvement and replacement.

Stoddard County Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis said the county has two bridge replacement projects underway. The first bridge is a 90-foot bridge over Mingo Swamp Ditch on CR 499. The second is over Bess Creek on CR 766 in Liberty Township. Those projects will be completed, Mathis said, but will leave the county with approximately $117,000 in the bridge replacement fund.

Mathis said the average cost of replacing a bridge is between $250,000 and $300,000. County commissioners attempt to replace two bridges each year, Mathis explained.

"We try to spread the money around the county," Mathis said.

The county has just received notice that MoDOT engineers have condemned a 50-foot bridge in Elk Township and downgraded a bridge on CR 420 in Castor Township from a 15-ton weight limit to three tons. County commissioners were also looking at replacing a 60-foot bridge in the Lavalle Special Road District.

Mathis said these bridges were on the commission agenda for next year, but the loss of funding will put all county bridge projects on hold.

Other Southeast Missouri counties are in worse shape due to the rescission of funding than Stoddard County. Several counties have spent the money in anticipation of receiving the additional funding. Projected cuts in neighboring counties include Dunklin County, $110,294.57; New Madrid County, $272,564.44; and Wayne County, $250,360.52. Among the hardest hit in District 10 is Bollinger County, which had $112,243.08 rescinded, leaving them with a negative balance of -$102,014.21. Mississippi County officials find themselves with a negative balance (-$100,000) as well (based on FY2009 apportionments).

In all, Missouri lost $202 million in transportation funding from the rescission. The loss includes money for road, bridge and other transportation improvements.

Andrew Meyer, transportation project manager of MoDOT District 10, said the state Safe and Sound Bridges program will be unaffected by the rescission because that funding is coming from a different source. Those bridge improvements/replacements are on state roadways. In all, 16 state highway bridges in the county are to be replaced under the Safe and Sound Bridge program. Construction on many of those is set to begin next year and be completed by 2013.

The counties and city rely on the federal Transportation Bill allocations to replace county road bridges.

"Our transportation infrastructure is aging and will continue to age," said Mark Shelton, an engineer for District 10. "We're at a point where some are beyond routine maintenance. Our economic future looks bleak, and these cuts don't help.

Mathis said county commissioners hope to find out more about possible federal funding appropriations sometime in November. He said it may be December before they get "an actual allocation."

"Right now we are not going to be able to do anything about bridge replacements," Mathis stated.

Dexter City Administrator Mark Stidham said the city receives about $36,000 per quarter in federal Transportation funds. He said some drainage and street projects may be "pushed back" due to the rescission. He noted that the city had hoped to replace the bridge on Grant Street between the high school and Anna Drive, but that project will "be put on hold". Grant Street in front of the schools is being widened to three lanes, and Stidham said the city had engineering plans to widen the bridge on the west end to three lanes. He said the sub-structure of the bridge needed replacing.

Cape Girardeau County First District Commissioner Paul Koeper said some of the $787 billion in stimulus funding should replace the rescinded funds.

"This sends out a contradictory message, since the federal government said it was committed to highway infrastructure for the stimulus package," Koeper said. "They're talking about taking money away from programs that provided safe roads for the public, school buses, emergency vehicle traffic and much more."

Emerson, a Cape Girardeau Republican, said she'll try to help restore the funding, as a new highway bill has not been voted on in Congress yet.

"Here at home, our transportation infrastructure and our rural economy go hand in hand," Emerson said in a written statement. "Earlier this year, I opposed the so-called stimulus bill because it didn't address this priority, among other reasons."

Brian Blackwell of the Southeast Missourian contributed to this story.