I-66 RECEIVES FINANCIAL BOOST

Walt Wildman, co-director of Interstate 66 Project, Inc., received some good news through a Christmas card last week.

Seven different entities in western Kentucky's Ohio County sent Wildman a three-foot Christmas card, which featured a Christmas decorated with seven checks.

The checks ranged in value from $250 to $1,000 and totaled $3,750.

"This is their way of saying they want to be part of the project," declared Wildman, who is also executive director of the Regional Commerce and Growth Association that initiated the I-66 idea over two years ago.

Wildman had been talking with groups in western Kentucky about supporting the highway, and the groups in Ohio County are hoping the corridor will ultimately be along the West Kentucky Parkway through their area.

This is the first money I-66 has received from that area, Wildman said. "The important part of this is cities and groups are willing to write checks rather than just pat me on the back and say it sounds good," he remarked.

Attaching checks to the card were: the Ohio County Fiscal Court; Ohio County Chamber of Commerce; Ohio County Industrial Development Foundation; Central City; Central City Chamber of Commerce; City of Hartford; and the city of Beaver Dam.

Wildman said the funds will be used to support the overall promotion and lobbying efforts on behalf of I-66.

On Wednesday, Wildman was invited to Dallas where he witnessed the signing of the new federal highway bill by President Bush.

In the bill, I-66 is listed as a new east-west corridor and listed as a High National Priority Corridor. The bill includes $1 million for conducting a feasibility study, which will be matched by about $380,000 from the 10 different states along the proposed 2,400 mile route.

By being included in the highway bill as a possible corridor, Wildman said I-66 now has a better national focus, but stressed a lot of work still needs to be done at the grassroots level to make it a reality.

Once this feasibility study is finished in early 1993, Wildman said the next step is to secure funds for a detailed engineering study that will determine the corridor and likely take 3-4 years to complete.

If everything goes well, Wildman noted that I-66 could be under construction before the end of this decade.

"I-66 is far from being a done deal," added Wildman. "We've made a lot of progress, but we're just now getting started good."