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Your concerns as a tax payer are understandable. I was under the impression that the highway crews, highway patrol and other state agencies were included in that 1.5 million per year price tag to the state. I didnt think that was bad since we are already paying those people anyway. Something a lot of people dont understand is that this was a world class international event. For all practical purposes The Tour De France was coming through our back yard!

Anyway in short, these are the numbers for the tour of missouri last year.

overall economic impact $30 million

434,000 spectators

average out-of-state visitor spent $270/day

77% of out-of-state visitors at the Tour listed the Tour as their reason for visiting Missouri

This was an awesome event for Missouri however I would like to see the true cost to the state. I know there was economic impact on the state, but the amount of time, money, manpower from just state departments and agencies had to be a huge expense. MODOT for example was filling small cracks in the roads the cyclist were traveling. They were out there making their previous patch work look "pretty". The number of state troopers present was crazy. I don't know how the state can ingore highways like 32 between Park Hills and Bismarck and spend so much time getting ready for this event. When is someone going to advocate for improvements in highway 32. The patch jobs aren't working. There is also a very dangerous drop in the highway between Bismarck and Iron Mt. that is going to cause a horrible accident. I know this is negative feedback, but my taxes go to support these state agencies and I would rather see benefit to the citizens in our state.