STRICTLY BUSINESS: BRIDGE A MAJOR EAST-WEST CORRIDOR

It was a chilly but sunny December day in Caruthersville.

The city had been spiffed up, a result of the city's "Operation Face Lift." Many buildings along Ward Street had been renovated, remodeled or repainted. Flags were flying at every location along the street on this Dec. 1, 1976.

It was "Bridge Day."

No further explanation was necessary for miles -- or states -- around.

"The Bridge" was the 1.34-mile, $70 million Mississippi River Bridge just south of Caruthersville that linked Missouri with Tennessee at a point about mid-way between Cairo, Ill. and Memphis, Tenn.

A crowd of about 5,000 people gathered for the dedication, held at the center of the bridge, where governors Christopher S. Bond of Missouri and Ray Blanton of Tennessee met to clip the ribbon to officially open the Interstate 155 bridge.

"Hands Across the River"

Then, in keeping with a "Hands Across the River Slogan," penned in 1946 when the chambers of commerce in Caruthersville and Dyersburg joined forces to obtain the bridge, the two governors shook hands.

"The Bridge" had become a reality some 30 years after it was first proposed.

"This is a big day for both states," declared Blanton. That was reiterated by Bond.

"The Bridge," although providing an east-west link between Interstate 55 in Missouri to Interstate 44 in Tennessee, had provided some fuel for critical comments long before construction ever started in 1968.

One of the most familiar comments was that the 155 corridor would go from a cotton field in Southeast Missouri to a corn field in Tennessee.

A 30-year wait ends

Newspapers from both sides of the bridge used big headlines to announce the bridge's opening. The Southeast Missourian used an eight-column streamer, "Caruthersville's 30-year wait for bridge at an end," the day before the opening, and a three-column "New Era for Bootheel," with photos of the bridge dedication crowd and Govs. Bond and Blanton the day following the dedication.

A Dyersburg newspaper proclaimed over six columns, "We're Closer Neighbors, Now."

This month, 20 years and millions of vehicle crossings later, the area is still "closer neighbors."

About 6,000 vehicles a day

A recent traffic count by the Missouri Transportation Department reveals just how busy the bridge is these days -- an average of 3,116 vehicles a day crossing into Tennessee and 2,846 vehicles crossing into Missouri.

Dyer County has experienced major growth in all areas during the past two decades and Dyersburg has become a big retail and industrial center.

Caruthersville has a couple of major industries, including Aztar Casino, which employs more than 600 people. Aztar probably never would have located on the bank of the Mississippi River without bridge access to Tennessee.

Dyersburg was standing still before the interstate, said Duke Loden, president of the Dyersburg Chamber of Commerce. "We didn't have an east-west corridor, and were hovering around the 14,000 population mark with only a couple of major industries."

Dyersburg in growth pattern

Today, Dyersburg is a growing town of more than 20,000 population, with more than 50 industries, the majority of them opening in Dyersburg within the past 20 years.

With a Wal-Mart Superstore and a large shopping mall, Dyersburg pulls a lot of traffic from Missouri and Arkansas, said Loden.

The interstate has been good for both sides of the river, he said.

He cited easier excess to St. Louis (I-155 to Interstate 55 and north). "A lot of people from Tennessee also visit Caruthersville and Hayti restaurants and other businesses, and the riverboat casino at Caruthersville," he said.

The dream of a Mississippi River bridge at Caruthersville dates back to 1939, when such a project was discussed in Pemiscot County. But, it wasn't until 1946 that the Caruthersville Chamber of Commerce reactivated the project, with a theme of "Hands "Across the River."

A four-state agreement

During planning stages, governors from four states -- John Dalton of Missouri, Buford Ellington of Tennessee, Bert T. Combs of Kentucky and Otto Kerner of Illinois -- discussed plans to obtain two interstate bridges.

Illinois and Kentucky governors supported Tennessee and Missouri governors, and vice-versa. The former was seeking an Interstate 24 bridge over the Ohio River, between Paducah, Ky. and Metropolis, while Ellington and Dalton wanted the Caruthersville bridge. The I-24 bridge opened in 1975.

Lost in the shuffle during the early planning was a recommendation for a bridge site over the Mississippi River at Scott City, which never materialized.

From $19 million to $70 million

The Caruthersville proposal was approved by President Lyndon B. Johnson, at an estimated cost of $19 million for the entire project. Before completion, those figures grew to $70 million, which included right-of-way, land acquisition, bridge approaches and construction. Missouri's portion was $48 million.

Construction began in 1968.

The bridge, officially known as the Tennessee-Missouri Bridge, includes a median divider with two 12-foot lanes for each direction of traffic.

Many people who attended the dedication of the bridge on Dec. 1, 1976, may still have proof they were there. The first 500 motorists to cross the bridge received a certificate, signifying they were among the first to cross the new structure.

Update on Frito Lay plant

Frito Lay Inc., a giant in the snack chip industry, is looking to be in its new Jonesboro, Ark. snack food plant -- a 400,000-square foot, $85 million manufacturing facility -- by mid-1997.

Frito Lay, which will employ more than 800 at Jonesboro when it cranks into full production, recently let a $1.3 million roofing contract to Osment Roofing systems Inc., in Jonesboro. The company is expected to hire between 300 and 400 employees during the first two years of operation, with up to 800 in six years.

Frito Lay workers, officials say, earn about $7 an hour, not including benefits.

Frito Lay selected the Jonesboro site in early March of 1996, following a 10-month site search which included four Southeast Missouri communities -- Cape Girardeau, New Madrid, Sikeston and Malden -- West Tennessee and North Mississippi.

The search narrowed to Sikeston, Malden and Jonesboro before the final selection was made.

The Jonesboro plant of Frito Lay, headquartered in Plano, Tex., and owned by Pepsico Inc., based in Purchase, N.Y., is being constructed in an 800-acre Craighead Technology Park.

The company is the fourth major company to located in the industrial park. Other companies in the park include Trailmobile, which produces tractor-trailers, which employs more than 400 people; Armour Swift Eckridge, which employs 250 and Crane Kemlight, which employs about 100.

B. Ray Owen is business editor for the Southeast Missourian.