17 Lake area projects on MoDOT's finalist list

A total of $227.03 million will be spent on various transportation projects in Miller, Morgan and Camden counties over the next 10 years if voters approve a 3/4-cent sales tax increase on the Aug. 5 ballot.

The 17 projects proposed for the three counties surrounding the Lake of the Ozarks were part of a list approved by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission on July 9. The commission released a list of more than 90 proposed projects statewide encompassing most types of public transportation including, highways, bridges, airports, railways, recreation paths, sidewalks and the OATS senior bus system.

Most of the lake projects were taken from a list of more than 100 improvements suggested to the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) by the Lake Area Council of Local Governments.

One of the proposed projects would be the installation of a highway interchange at the junction of U.S. Highway 54 and state Route W in Lake Ozark.

MoDOT engineer Bob Lynch said the installation of an interchange at that location would result in the elimination of the last traffic signal along the Highway 54 corridor between Interstate 70 and Camdenton.

Lynch said although at this time no specific design has been chosen for the interchange, the location dictates that some type of bridge to carry Highway 54 "either over or under" state Route W is necessary.

"In order to build an interchange at that location, the design will have to include some type of overpass," Lynch said. "Although whether Highway 54 goes over or under Route W hasn't been determined yet."

MoDOT is estimating the project would cost $13.82 million. Making it the second most expensive project in the three counties.

The most expensive project would be the addition of lanes to Highway 50 from California to the Morgan County line. In addition to adding two more lanes to that section of the highway, the project would also include a bypass around Tipton. The estimated cost of that project is $91.48 million.

The Aug. 5 ballot question, titled Amendment 7, would increase the state's sales tax, but it would not apply to purchases of food and medicine. Passage of the tax increase would require the state to freeze motor fuel tax at its current rate and prohibit the state from building any toll roads or adding tolls to any roads already in operation throughout the duration of the 10-years tax increase.

If the ballot question passes, the tax increase would go into effect Jan. 1, 2015 and automatically sunset Dec. 30, 2025, unless voters approve its extension.

MoDOT is estimating the revenue generated by the tax increase at $5.4 billion over the 10-year period. Under the terms of the ballot question that money can only be spent on the projects listed by MoDOT with the exception of a 10 percent of the revenue share of the revenue that will be divided among county and city governments for use on local transportation projects. MoDOT estimates that amount of revenue that would be divided among those local governments at $54 million annually.