Contact: Ernie Blazar 202.224.7627 Shana Stribling 202.224.0309
Wednesday, August 6, 2003

ST. LOUIS - Senator Kit Bond today hosted a meeting of St. Louis business, civic and political leaders to discuss the status of the federal highway bill and how that legislation may help the city meet its key transportation needs.

"If we are able to get the highway bill completed this Fall, and I am cautiously optimistic we will, it is going to provide St. Louis and Missouri with an additional hundreds of millions of dollars for key highway and bridge projects," said Bond. "Ultimately, it will be up to the highway commission in cooperation with city, state and local leaders to decide where and how those additional funds should be spent."

Bond is chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Transportation Subcommittee, the panel charged in the U.S. Senate with writing the federal highway bill. That legislation is the blueprint that governs where and how tens of billions of federal dollars will be spent on transportation projects throughout the nation over the next six years.

"My responsibility is to help write the bill, get it through the Senate and onto the President's desk for signature. And I will only support a bill that makes a large and positive difference for Missouri," said Bond. "After that, once the additional money is on the table, it will be up to the highway commission, MODOT and regional planning agencies to decide how to spent that money. It is vital that state and local leaders prioritize the state's needs and those discussions should begin soon."

One of the highest priority projects in St. Louis is the replacement of the Mississippi River bridge – a project with a price-tag that tops $1 billion. Bond confirmed it is not possible to designate the full cost of the bridge in the highway bill.

"If we get the highway bill that I want, Missouri will be able to cover its share of that project – if that is what state and local leaders decide," said Bond. "But that means other projects in the state will have a lower priority. There simply will not be enough money to fund fully every important transportation project in Missouri."

Senator Bond served Missouri twice as Governor and now continues his service to the state in his third term in the United States Senate.