Local business owners and community leaders have been galvanized into action by a Missouri legislative proposal to allow tolling on Interstate 70.They have formed a group they call “A Better Road Forward,” a not-for-profit aimed at raising awareness for the issue in an attempt to defuse further legislative action.The matter of adding tolls to pay for reconstruction along I-70 was renewed this year by a House of Representatives bill from Rep. Kevin Corlew of Kansas City. The bill, HB 155, would create the Interstate 70 Public Private Partnership Act, which would allow a private entity to finance I-70 construction by charging “user fees.”The membership of A Better Road Forward includes a number of area business leaders, many of whom also belong to the Greater Warren County Economic Development Council. Also included are representatives of several area governments and community groups.The organization’s communication, political and recruitment strategies are guided in part by political consulting firm Barklage and Knodell, which has been contracted to help engage the issue. Their objective now is to spread the word about the potential impacts of tolling I-70.“We’re at a point where recruitment is the most critical thing for us,” said Ethan Todd, Barklage and Knodell’s representative for A Better Road Forward. “We really need to spread this throughout the state.”That includes identifying businesses and community organizations outside Warren and Montgomery counties that could be negatively affected by tolling, and helping those entities get in contact with their legislators.The group will begin distributing a list of talking points to members who want to visit and discuss the issue with other area organizations, Todd told a group gathering at Hunter Modular Construction in Jonesburg Friday, March 17. Members regularly gather in Jonesburg to deliver updates on Fridays at noon.Although the Legislature has taken no action on HB 155 since it was read twice in January, Wayne Baker, president of Warrenton Oil, told the gathered members they need to be vigilant until the end of the legislative session.“There’s no reason an amendment cannot be dropped into a budget bill in the last two weeks of (the) session,” Baker said. “It would be easy for legislators to say, ‘I didn’t raise your taxes, but I fixed the problem.’”State Rep. Bart Korman, whose district includes parts of Warren and Montgomery counties, was at the gathering and confirmed that a budget bill amendment allowing I-70 tolling is possible.Missouri Department of Transportation officials say establishing a toll road will provide funding to reconstruct the deteriorating foundation of I-70 and add a lane in each direction to accommodate increasing traffic. The cost of that project was estimated at $2 billion in 2014. Multiple measures that would have raised statewide fuel taxes in response to funding needs have been defeated when they went to a public vote.A Better Road Forward has multiple online outlets to distribute information, including a Facebook page, @BetterRoadMO, and a website, BetterRoadMO.com.Editor’s note: Ethan Todd is a relative of a member of The Record staff.A Better Road Forward