COLUMBIA - Policymakers try to figure out the distribution of federal stimulus money nationwide, and Missouri's highway money is at the center of some of that study.
The New York Times did an investigation that found one half of Missouri's stimulus money went to 89 counties. These are counties that only cover one quarter of the state's population.
While MoDOT's St. Louis region gets $173 million, smaller rural areas like MoDOT region 10 in East Central Missouri gets more than a third as much: $63 million. St. Louis has five times the population of region 10.
Tuscumbia is a city of 214, and city officials admit it has little to offer economically. But an $8.5 million project to rebuild its nearby Osage River Bridge is the state's first stimulus project, much to the dismay of large cities like St. Louis.
Miller County Presiding Commissioner Tom Wright said the project doesn't just benefit locals.
"All portions of Mid-Missouri are major trucking routes, lots of things are shipped thorough here, and so I bet if you ask any trucker who's been over that bridge he'll give you a big thumbs up," Miller said.
MoDOT wouldn't make anyone available to comment on the distribution.
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