Voters may have an opportunity in August to vote on an effort to four-lane Highway 67 south to the Arkansas state line. The 12-mile project would be paid for through an existing sales tax and with what community leaders hope will be the addition of state and federal money.
The Poplar Bluff City Council will vote May 6 on whether or not to send the proposal to voters. They discussed it Monday.
A 50-mile stretch of Highway 67 north to Fredericktown has been four lanes since construction work finished in 2011. Residents approved a one-half cent sales tax in 2005 to fund the project.
Payments on Poplar Bluff’s share of costs were expected to take until 2035, but the debt will be fully repaid in March 2020, city manager Mark Massingham told the council.
Members of the Highway 67 Corporation are now asking residents to “finish what we started.”
Ballot language would ask residents to redefine the scope of the project to include Highway 67 south.
“I think if people would have known back then that it was going to pass overwhelmingly like it did … that they would have included on the ballot from the Arkansas line to Fredericktown,” said Massingham. “They didn’t know if they even had a shot to do the north part.”
The north part received additional state and federal money after the tax passed, which lowered the cost to residents, Massingham said.
Officials also say at about $2.5 million per year, the tax is collecting more than expected.
Residents will have contributed more than $30 million to the approximately $180 million north four lane project by March.
The 67 south project is smaller, and officials also hope it will cost less than first expected.
“I think this is a wonderful opportunity for us. Certainly I think we, all citizens of Poplar Bluff, made a very good decision and now that we can enjoy four lane to the north, this will make it available to the south,” said council member at-large Ron Black. “It will make Poplar Bluff a more viable and active community.”
The Missouri Department of Transportation has estimated the four-lane construction would cost $50 million. No route has been selected at this time, said Bill Robison, chairman of the Highway 67 Corporation.
The project would apply for a $25 million build grant from the federal transportation department and a $10 million cost share from MoDOT, Massingham said.
Community leaders hope voters will agree in August to allow the current sales tax to continue and be applied toward the 67 south project.
The tax is due to end in 2035 and this would not change, Robison said.
The tax would also pay only for work on Highway 67, he explained. Those involved in the project are hopeful that with state and federal funding, residents could still see project costs repaid earlier than 2035.
All work from the Harviell exit to the Arkansas state line would be constructed to interstate standards, something which could help an effort to complete an Interstate 57 route that includes Poplar Bluff, Massingham said.
“Poplar Bluff has had considerable comments from others around the state about our ability to get together and do something like that, and perhaps in some cases they have been a bit jealous because of the benefit that comes out of being able to do it,” said Black.
Members of the Highway 67 Corporation say the north project generated more than $300 million in economic growth for Poplar Bluff, as well as reducing accidents by 28 percent.