Letter to the Editor

Bond secures needed road funds

To the editor:

Passage of the new five-year federal transportation bill will provide added impetus and the additional funding necessary for Southeast Missouri to achieve the safer and more efficient transportation system toward which we are all working. The funding will also help achieve many of the goals of the Southeast Missouri Transportation Advisory Committee, including improvements to the U.S. 67 and U.S. 60 corridors, construction of the I-55/East Main Street interchange and additional funding for Southeast Missouri Transportation Service, which provides transit services for our rural residents.

Over the life of the new transportation bill, Missouri will receive almost $1.3 billion in additional highway funding, which represents 98 cents returned to the state for every dollar of federal transportation taxes paid by Missouri residents. The Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission, Bootheel Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission and the Ozark Foothills Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission and their transportation advisory committees would like to express their sincere appreciation to U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, who chairs the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, and the other members of the Missouri congressional delegation for their hard work and support in securing the funding necessary to make Southeast Missouri safer for all of us.

DR. GREG BATSON, Executive Director, Ozark Foothills Regional Planning & Economic Development Commission, Poplar Bluff, Mo.

CHAUNCY BUCHHEIT, Executive Director, Southeast Regional Planning & Economic Development Commission, Perryville, Mo.

STEPHEN H. DUKE, Executive Director, Bootheel Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission, Malden, Mo.