The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission issued a report Wednesday in response to Gov. Jay Nixon’s request that they detail options about how to pay for the costs of rebuilding one of the state’s busiest interstates, Interstate 70.

The transportation commission found that it could cost the state as little as $2 billion or as much as $4 billion to rebuild Interstate 70, in addition to the cost of tolling infrastructure. Based on the lower figure, it could cost a passenger car driver between $20 to $30 to travel from Kansas City to St. Louis, or $40 to $90 for truck drivers, the commission said.

“A strong, safe and reliable transportation infrastructure is critical to our ability to create jobs and grow our economy, so I appreciate the Commission’s work to complete this report,” Gov. Nixon said. “I look forward to reviewing the report in greater detail, particularly its analysis of how this approach, already in use in other states, could free up resources for road and bridge projects statewide, while minimizing the costs and inconvenience to drivers through technological advances. Moving forward, this report will help facilitate an informed, robust discussion about meeting our most pressing transportation infrastructure needs in a way that benefits all Missourians.”

Without another source of funding, the commission found that,“the minimum cost of $2 billion to reconstruct and expand I-70 is beyond MoDOT’s means, but Missouri could explore tolling options available to move forward with a project that would rebuild Missouri’s ‘Main Street.’”

Already, the Missouri Department of Transportation has the environmental approvals to reconstruct and expand 200 miles of Intestate 70 from the outer fringes of Kansas City near Independence, Mo., to outside the St. Louis-area to Wentzville. Missouri is one of three states with “conditional provisional” approval from the Federal Highway Administration to build a toll road, approval that the commission found could expire.

One of the cheapest ways to rebuild Interstate 70 is with the “design-build” model. With that, the Transportation Commission would – upon legislative approval – issue toll revenue bonds to provide initial funds. The state would pay for the bond with the long-term funds provided by the toll. Under this model, the MoDOT would contract a firm to design and build the road, and retain operation and maintenance responsibilities.

Under other models, a private company would be responsible for design and construction and the operation component could go to the state. Another model would allow a private company to obtain a long-term lease for the road.