ASK JACKSON

The Southeast Missourian asked people how they viewed widening a 3 1/2-mile stretch of Highway 34 to three lanes, running from Highway 25 to the Highway 34/Highway 72 split west of Jackson, as proposed by the Jackson Board of Aldermen. The Missouri Department of Transportation has recommended a five-lane upgrade for the highway.

George Dickerson: "I think three lanes would be fine. I don't know that five lanes would help with school traffic, because it has to bottleneck somewhere."

Wes Bartels: "As a business owner along the highway, I would oppose five lanes which would strip so much property frontage. Three lanes would help, but five lanes would almost cure the problem of traffic congestion."

Fred Scheper: "Three lanes would help, because it would allow traffic to turn at Route PP and at the high school. I would prefer three lanes instead of five, because I own a business along there. However, there could be no passing in the center lane."

Jack McCall: "With the volume of traffic and future business interests, it would be better to have five lanes. It would affect some present businesses along the highway, but in the future more business would come in if they go with five lanes."

Jane Whitener: "I think three lanes would be more dangerous to drive than five lanes. You're going to be playing `chicken' in that middle lane all the time. For safety, I would prefer that it have five lanes."