Kansas Transportation Officials Mull Tolls for Future Highway Needs

Transportation officials in Kansas, faced with growing congestion in metropolitan areas, are considering more tolls to keep traffic moving, the Kansas City Star reported.

A Kansas Department of Transportation official told the paper the department was looking at “alternative ways to help pay for transportation,” including tolls.

Officials are considering adding tolled express lanes on Interstate 35 and I-435, and planners have studied toll options for a new bridge across the Missouri River connecting Leavenworth, Kan., with Platte County, Mo., the Star said.

Although the state is locked into a 10-year, $8 billion highway plan, it still has hundreds of millions of dollars in highway funding needs, particularly in the Kansas City area, the newspaper reported.