KANSAS CITY, Mo. — U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R.-St. Louis, said Saturday that he supports toll roads, particularly on I-70, to fund infrastructure improvements.

In Kansas City, on the westernmost part of the interstate in Missouri,  Akin said that while he is against increasing the gas tax, he supports a increasing revenue to fund improvements.

“What you really want is a user tax,” Akin told attendees at a U.S. Senate forum hosted by the Missouri Republican Party.

Former State Treasurer Sarah Steelman, one of Akin’s two primary opponents, said she is against revenue increases to fund infrastructure, favoring spending prioritization, instead.

“We’ve got plenty of money — the federal government is spending it on the wrong things,” Steelman said.

St. Louis businessman John Brunner, in his debate debut, said the toll issue is new to him, but he favors using money spent on infrastructure abroad on projects in the United States.

“There has to be a better way [than tolls]” Brunner said in an interview.