Transportation credibility

The Kansas City Star

Missouri lost credibility when it scrapped the 15-year highway construction plan in 1998 but kept collecting the fuel tax increase that was supposed to pay for it. Lingering bitterness over that decision may well have been the primary reason why, in 2000, voters trounced a $500 million road-improvement plan.

Boosting the Department of Transportation's credibility will be the top priority of the agency's new director, Pete K. Rahn, who will take over Sept. 15 after a similar job in New Mexico. Rahn is highly recommended. Bill McKenna, chairman of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, calls his credentials "top-notch." In Missouri, Rahn faces a big challenge and will have a chance to prove himself. One change that would help is elimination of the long-debated but still-not-resolved "diversion" policy, which funnels a significant amount of road money to a mishmash of state agencies ... .

Giving the state the option to pay for projects with tolls also would help. Toll financing should be used sparingly, but it deserves to be part of the menu of choices.

The state's roads are in bad shape, but the transportation department can claim some improvements. The agency, once miserable at estimating costs, has become much more precise. More emphasis has been put on maintaining the existing road system, as opposed to cutting ribbons on new roads.

But much remains to be done. A 2003 state audit and a series in The Star found a swollen public-relations budget, a sloppy property-management system ... and a system that sometimes paid contractors before verifying proper completion of the work.

Bringing in a fresh face gives the department the opportunity to make further needed improvements.