MODOT MEETINGS ARE HARDLY REPRESENTATIVE

The Missouri Department of Transportation, through a series of what it calls consensus meetings, wants to know how Missourians think state highway money should be spent.

MoDOT didn't ask about specific highway projects. Instead, it asked what proportions of its money should be spent on highways, aviation, bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, rail and bus service between cities and public transportation.

One of the meetings was held recently at Sikeston. Others were at Rolla, St. Joseph, Hannibal and Joplin.

People who attended the meeting at Sikeston were invited by the department, and only 25 of the 45 people selected from telephone directories who said they would be there actually attended. The participants were asked to assign a monetary amount totaling $100 to each of the five categories so MoDOT could get public consensus on how it should spend the money.

It came as no surprise to anyone that the people at the Sikeston meeting determined highways and bridges should get top priority. That was followed by expanding airports and providing public transportation in the region. Passenger rail and bus service and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations ranked low on the list primarily because the participants didn't see them as necessities. They were considered issues for larger cities and metropolitan areas, not a rural regions as is Southeast Missouri.

It is hard to imagine what useful purpose, if any, these meetings can serve. If the highway department is looking for a true consensus on what categories it should spend its money, meeting with a couple of dozen people from the immediate Sikeston area hardly serves that purpose. The district served by MoDOT's regional office in Sikeston stretches from Cape Girardeau County to the Arkansas line and from the Mississippi River to Wayne and St. Francois counties to the west. What does the rest of the district think?

MoDOT must be wondering if its current priorities on spending concur with those of the majority of Missourians or it wouldn't be asking. Highway construction and maintenance always have been and should continue to be MoDOT's No. 1 priority, and any diversion from that practice would be a serious mistake.