"Captain Dave" at Captain Dave's Seafood Market in downtown Hollister has had a front-row seat to the traffic on business 65 in Hollister for nine years. He considers himself a go-to for fresh fish in the area, and he'd like to keep reeling in the customers.

"Everything kind of funnels into here," Dave said.

Which is why he says a 1/4 cent sales tax to route traffic from Hollister to Kirbyville smells fishy. Then traffic travelling between Kirbyville and Hollister wouldn't pass his business.

Hollister city administrator Rick Ziegenfuss says the tax is necessary. "If you had the alternative of the east-west corridor," he said, "you could leave highway 65 and travel toward east Taney County toward Forsyth without having to go through the congestion of downtown."

Business owners at Fluffy Puppy Too, Captain Dave's Seafood Market, and Frisco Discount Furniture all say the traffic isn't congested downtown. The problem, they say, is north of Hollister.

"We had a docter come in. He said it took him 1/2 hour to get from Skaggs hospital to here, which is only about 2 miles. That's because of the traffic going through Branson, and then it's backed up on the bridge," Dave said.

The Lake Taneycomo Bridge will soon be replaced by stimulus money. The Hollister city administrator says that won't fix all of the traffic problems.

"We will have the new bridge downtown, that will help it, but there's still the growth factor and there's some of the fastest growing areas of Taney County," said Ziegenfuss.

Captain Dave would like to see that growth, but he just wants to make sure they drive by his store.

"I'd prefer that they'd leave well enough alone and just fix the bridge - that'd be fine with me," said Dave.

While downtown business owners we spoke with aren't in support of the project, the Hollister chamber of commerce says it is.

"The Hollister Chamber of Commerce supports the East West Corridor Road because it is an investment in the infrastructure that will help our community continue to grow and thrive, in addition to providing many other benefits. The Hollister business community is solidly in favor of this project, and we look forward to the many opportunities it will bring to our region," said Rob Dixon, the director of the Hollister Area Chamber of Commerce.

The east-west corridor was proposed for stimulus funding, but the city didn't expect to get funding. Ziegenfuss tells me the project didn't meet all of the qualifications for stimulus money. It doesn't already have construction drawings and they wouldn't be able to construct it within 120 days.

Voters will decide on the sales tax April 7th.

Click here to see a sample of Taney County's April 7th Ballot

Click here to see a press release from the Hollister Chamber of Commerce, voicing support of the project.