Interstate 66 project gets boost from Illinois

ROAD TO PROSPERITY

By Mark Bliss ~ Southeast Missourian

The Illinois governor's race is breathing new life into plans to bring the proposed Interstate 66 through Cape Girardeau, local officials and civic leaders say.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan has pledged his support for a feasibility study on the effect of bringing the proposed highway across Southern Illinois. Walt Wildman, an unpaid promoter of the project, said it's also got the backing -- although less publicly -- of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rod Blagojevich.

A Blagojevich campaign spokesman didn't call back to respond to a reporter's inquiry on Wednesday.

But Wildman said, "We have assurances from both camps that they are supportive of the project."

That's crucial if I-66 is ever to be built from Paducah, Ky., to Cape Girardeau, local officials say.

Without Illinois' cooperation, the highway could end up going through western Kentucky and possibly cross the Mississippi River farther south near Charleston, Mo.,

"If we can't get their support for routing the highway from Paducah to Cape Girardeau through the Shawnee National Forest, we are out of luck," said Mitch Robinson, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association.

Across new bridge

Local civic leaders want the proposed four-lane highway from Kentucky routed through Southern Illinois and across the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge being constructed at Cape Girardeau.

Kentucky has embarked on a $500,000 study to determine the best route for I-66 through western Kentucky. The Missouri Department of Transportation is providing $50,000 and may pay as much as $100,000 toward the study, which is scheduled to be completed in May.

Illinois' highway department hasn't embraced the project and isn't a part of the study. That's hurt efforts by Cape Girardeau officials to promote the highway project.

"We've been dead in the water for really the last three years," Robinson said.

But he and other local officials believe the latest comments from Ryan suggest that a new Illinois administration may request federal funds to study a possible Southern Illinois route for the highway.

"It was a shot in the arm that the project needed," said Jay Knudtson, Cape Girardeau's mayor.

Knudtson wrote a letter to Kentucky highway officials in August expressing support for routing the highway through Southern Illinois. He said the project envisioned as far back as 1989 that the road would connect Cape Girardeau and Paducah, the region's two largest communities.

"I know that the chances of it going through Cape Girardeau are zero if we don't get Illinois politicians behind it," he said.

At a news conference in Metropolis, Ill., on Tuesday, Ryan said his state needs to make sure it is not bypassed by a major highway.

"This feasibility study is long overdue," Ryan said. "The people of Southern Illinois deserve to know what kind of impact a route for I-66 would have on their communities.

Said Ryan, "There is no risk in doing a worthwhile study. What's risky is passing up what could be a tremendous economic opportunity."

mbliss@semissourian.com

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