This Fiscal Note is not an official copy and should not be quoted or cited. Officials indicated that there are eleven bridges included in the roads being brought under the state highway system by this proposal, and they determined that nine of those are considered deficient under federal guidelines. Estimates to rehabilitate each of those nine bridges were based on factors including federal rehabilitation cost rates and statewide average costs. DHT officials indicate that they are unable to provide an annual estimate of these costs, since it is unknown when the work would be done and the costs incurred. Also, there would be a possibility of federal reimbursement of some of these costs, but any such amount is also unknown.
Officials assume that the roads have an eight-year life.
In response to a similar proposal, officials of the City of St. Louis indicate that there are a total of 62 miles of roads in the St. Louis area that would become part of the state highway system. City officials did not attempt to estimate cost savings for bridge work, as they indicated an accurate assessment would require physical examination of the bridges in question. Oversight assumes that DHT's estimate for routine maintenance includes all additional roads and that the estimate is reasonable since DHT does not presently provide routine maintenance on the roads covered by its agreement with the City of St. Louis. Oversight also assumes that DHT will incur significant costs in replacing or rehabilitating bridges, but also has no means of determining which, if any, of the bridges would be replaced during the fiscal note period, and how much the resulting costs would be on an annual basis. Oversight also assumes that the cost of resurfacing all roads included in the proposal would likely not be incurred only in FY 1997.