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Mayor: Tolling won’t stop interchange plans

By Adam Rollins, Record Staff Writer
Posted 11/7/19

Warrenton Mayor Eric Schleuter wants everyone to know, “we’re going to build an overpass, folks, whether a toll road goes in or not.” Schleuter made the comment during a board of aldermen …

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Mayor: Tolling won’t stop interchange plans

Posted
By Adam Rollins, Record Staff Writer
Warrenton Mayor Eric Schleuter wants everyone to know, “we’re going to build an overpass, folks, whether a toll road goes in or not.”Schleuter made the comment during a board of aldermen discussion March 7 about a Missouri legislative proposal that would turn much of Interstate 70 into a toll road. He was responding to fears that passage of such a bill would cause Warrenton to scrap plans for a new, $15.4 million I-70 interchange west of Highway 47.“(An interchange) was voted on by the public. The public voiced what they wanted to do. We will be doing that,” Schleuter said.The mayor also expressed confidence that Gov. Eric Greitens would be less inclined to support a toll road proposal after announcing that a large distribution center would be coming to the Columbia area. The governor’s office released a statement March 2 saying American Outdoor Brands Corporation, which includes Smith & Wesson in its portfolio, would establish a 300-employee distribution center in Boone County within the next several months.“I’m sure he’s not in favor of too many toll roads if he’s trying to bring that type of business on the corridor of I-70,” Schleuter said. “I’m not saying what his stance is, but I think we’ve got some things in our favor.”The mayor and several aldermen commented that they have heard growing “negativity” about the future of Warrenton, especially in online conversations on social media platforms. Educating citizens about issues is important, officials said, but the negativity needs to stop.“When you hear negative things in town, you need to talk up our community, you need to talk up what we’re doing, you need to talk up what a great place this is to live and the great things going on,” Ward 2 Alderman Gary Auch said to fellow board members.Auch said interstate tolling would not be the end of plans to build the new interchange and drive a rejuvenation of the defunct Warrenton Outlet Mall.“Our market area primarily is to the west of here. They’re on I-70 regardless of the toll road or not,” Auch said. “They still need to shop, they still need to have the things we have in this community. ... The thing to me is to stay upbeat and stay positive. Don’t allow people to become so negative they start dragging down the momentum we have going on.”The board of aldermen previously has discussed whether to use city billboards to educate citizens about the potential impacts of tolling I-70. Recently, the city also received a request to provide funding for A Better Road Forward, a newly formed lobbying group aimed at opposing tolling legislation. But there are limits to what aldermen can approve.“The city has a statutory limitation that it cannot spend money advocating for or against any ballot issue,” City Attorney Christopher Graville said. “This (group) is going to advocate for a ballot issue, then I assume advocate in the future for passage of a constitutional amendment.”Graville said he would be “very judicious” in his advice about what the city can endorse by posting links from the city website to outside groups, for example.No action was taken by the board at the March 7 meeting.The worry over I-70 tolling stems from a Missouri House of Representatives bill filed by Rep. Kevin Corlew of Kansas City in December. The bill, HB 155, would allow the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) to partner with private entities “to finance, develop, or operate a new reconstruction project of I-70, funded by user fees,” according to the bill’s summary.State officials say a large amount of new revenue is needed to cover the cost of major reconstruction along the interstate.Local officials and business owners are worried the plan would do major damage to the economy of cities along the I-70 corridor, souring Warren County for prospective new businesses and taxing anyone who commutes via the interstate.No action has been taken on HB 155 since it was read before the House of Representative Jan. 5.The bill is the most recent of several proposals to toll the interstate, but one way or another, it will be the last. Tolling on a U.S. interstate roadway can only be done with the permission of the Federal Highway Administration, which has said Missouri must approve the toll road plan by May this year or not at all.

File photo.

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