Topeka — The Kansas Turnpike Authority would be abolished and its powers and functions transferred to the state Department of Transportation under a measure before the Legislature.
State Rep. Bill Feuerborn, D-Garnett, who authored House Bill 2178, said Monday that lawmakers should consider the proposal because of the state’s huge budget deficit.
“We need to look at all the assets the state has,” said Feuerborn, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.
Lawmakers face an immediate shortfall of $186 million, which could grow to nearly $1 billion by the start of the next fiscal year on July 1.
Feuerborn said tolls that the Turnpike Authority charges along the 236-mile road could be used as a “revenue stream” for state government.
Plus, he said, the legislation that established the Turnpike Authority had envisioned that turnpike operations would be turned over to the state, once the cost of building the highway had been paid.
The turnpike is governed by a five-member board: the chairs of the House and Senate transportation committees; the secretary of the Department of Transportation; and two members appointed by the governor.
Lisa Callahan, spokeswoman for the Turnpike Authority, said authority officials hadn’t yet analyzed the legislation and would prefer to withhold comment until they had.
She said that Feuerborn was right that the original law setting up the authority allowed the transfer of the turnpike to the state when it was clear of debt. But, she said, while the original debt to build the turnpike has been paid, the authority has continued borrowing funds to make improvements, such as the current $140 million project to replace the bridges over the Kansas River in Lawrence.
Tolls are a major source of revenue to operate the turnpike and pay off the loans.
Comments
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hipper_than_hip (anonymous) says…
Sounds like national socialism to me.
orbiter (anonymous) says…
"Sounds like national socialism to me"That must be because you do not know the definitions of "national" and "socialism".
admireed (anonymous) says…
How about taking over Allen Field House too. Nice revenue stream there!
hipper_than_hip (anonymous) says…
National Socialism NounGerman history the doctrines and practices of the Nazis, involving the supremacy of Hitler, anti-Semitism, state control of the economy, and national expansion.I think state control of the economy sums up this plan.
KansasVoter (anonymous) says…
hipper_than_hip - You're absolutely clueless and not worth the time that it would take to correct you.
jayhawklawrence (anonymous) says…
Having worked with both, I think this is an idea that has enough merit that it should be studied carefully. There could be a lot of savings and efficiency improvements with such an arrangement but I know that there are a lot of political issues and long time relationships that will be impacted so there is going to be a big fight before it would happen.Too bad a Republican didn't recommend this. It would have a better chance.
KS (anonymous) says…
If KDOT takes over the KTA, then the tolls should be removed and it should be free, just like the rest of the highways. All this is, is an attempt to gain the revenue from the KTA. This is a bad idea because the money will go into the common till and will be used for social programs versus being used for a very good maintenance program that the KTA runs. Maintenance of the KTA will go down. Bad idea. Glad a Republican didn't think of it.
dontcallmedan (anonymous) says…
Would they be selling off, to the highest bidder, those concrete dividers on the turnpike between Lawrence and KC that prevent crossover head-ons? I'm a big fan of the KTA, and the KTAG. People die every year on K-10 because of the lack of barriers, and KDOT must know it.
CLARKKENT (anonymous) says…
please just leave the turnpike alone, it is a nice well run highway.
Solomon (anonymous) says…
"Why isn't I-70 west of Topeka to the Colorado border the Turnpike. Never did understand that."This is like asking, 'why isn't blue green?' It just isn't. When the turnpike was built it was designed to connect the only two metropolitan areas of the state--Wichita and KC. Highway 40 got you across the state pretty well. When the interstate system came along they just tried to 'piggy-back' onto existing divided highways like the turnpike.
i_like_glass_beads (anonymous) says…
Dan, if you haven't noticed, those concrete dividers run just about all the way along the Turnpike, not just between Lawrence and KC. And people die on K-10 due to stupidity, not because of median barriers missing. Seriously people.
75x55 (anonymous) says…
Bandits.Is this really what our "elected representatives" come up with? See a profitable business, and try to take it over to steal the money to cover their own unrestrained spending deficits?Kiss decent highways goodbye, and kiss your money goodbye as well. Mr. Feuerborn - you're an idiot. Sorry, hate to tell ya that, but someone had to.
madameX (anonymous) says…
Hawk, I dearly love living in Kansas, but I'm pretty sure the reasons people have for not coming here for tourism have very little to do with the fact that they can drive through to Colorado for free and much more to do with the fact that there's not much to do, tourism-wise. We have, like, the world's largest prairie dog farm or something and they have the Rocky Mountains. Unfortunately for us there's no contest.
blindrabbit (anonymous) says…
75x55 has it right! Kansas has a relatively good highway system due in large part because the State does not have to maintain the Turnpike! Try a drive to Missouri, Oklahoma and Nebraska to see the alternative; Oklahoma and Missouri highway systems are sorry! We drive much of Kansas every year and the state has much to be proud of as far as highways are concerned. Just because Turnpike does not pass through Anderson County and Garnett should not give Feuerborn a "envy" agenda. Keep the system the way it is.By-the-way, many other States are looking to adopt the Turnpike concept as a viable highway building alternative!
handley (anonymous) says…
Leave KTA as it is. If it is put into the state budget the moneys will be spent elsewhere and the road will not be as well maintained. People that pay toll fees deserve to have the road that they pay tolls on well maintained.
Bob_Keeshan (anonymous) says…
Dollars from the 1989 and 1999 Comprehensive Transportation Plans have been spent on the Kansas Turnpike.It is false to say the state does not pay for the Turnpike.
MyName (anonymous) says…
>Sounds like national socialism to me.Dude, put down the bong and walk away from the computer before you hurt yourself.Though, as a public service, I'd like to point out that the KTA has always been owned by the State of Kansas, so nothing (new) is being socialized. Also, until Kansas gets recognized as an independent nation, the National part of your delusion is also completely off base.
JerryLHarper (anonymous) says…
The turnpike spends money like a drunken sailor because it is essentially without oversight. And the chumps who live along the turnpike corridor continue to be taxed twice.The turnpike was built in the 1950s when the state legislature was totally controlled by rural Kansas. Each of the 105 counties had its own state representative. When one man/one vote was mandated by the U.S. Supreme Court, in the 1960s that all changed. For instance, in the 1966 election, Sedgwick County went from having 9 representative to having 18. That is how far from equal representation the urban areas were. The formulas for distribution of highway funds and educational dollars (among other things) were constructed so a disproportionate portion of state tax revenue went to the least populated areas. (That didn’t change until the post-1966 era.) The only way the Eastern third of the state (where all the people are) could get a north-south highway built linking the major urban areas was to do a toll road. The rural-dominated legislature flatly refused to spend any gas tax money to build such a road. It kept those funds to build roads to get jack rabbits from the farm to the county seat and back instead. (As late as the 1960s, Kansas, still had the third largest road system in the entire United States.) The legislature did promise to eliminate the tolls as soon as construction bonds paid off. Of course those bonds paid off years ago, but the tolls never stopped. And ever since, for the last 50 years, the Kansans along the turnpike corridor have been double-taxes while the Kansas Turnpike Authority has been rolling in cash and spending it as they pleased with essentially no oversight. This is a classic example of state government breaking faith with the citizenry. Those who live along the turnpike (the vast majority of Kansans) end up being taxed twice: (1) When they fill up the tank to drive on the turnpike, and (2) When they pay the turnpike tax (toll). None of the gas tax money goes to maintain the turnpike. That is all done with tolls.The rest of the state drives toll free on roads subsidized in part by the gas taxes paid by those who have to use the turnpike because there really is no practical alternative to it if one wants to make efficient use of time and be reasonably safe when traveling. (For instance, check how many people have been killed traveling Highway 40 from Lawrence to Topeka over the last 30 years compared to taking the turnpike in the same period of time.)The turnpike shouldn’t just be folded into KDOT, it ought to be eliminated. Or the rest of the state highways ought to become toll roads (not likely).