OFFICIAL SAYS BONDS KEY PART OF ROAD PLAN

The sizable interest payments that would go with a proposed half-billion dollar highway bond issue would largely be offset by benefits yielded from the speedy completion of those projects, according to the highway department's district engineer for Southeast Missouri.

The Missouri Highway and Transportation Department will ask the General Assembly to approve a $500 million bond issue in its upcoming session. The department wants the money to fund fully its $2.6 billion Short Term Action Plan.

That plan outlines priority road projects to be started during a three-year period from 1996 through 1998. The department projects only $2.1 billion in state and federal money will be available without the bond issue.

"The additional $500 million will allow us to complete more projects sooner," said Jim Murray, one of 10 district engineers with the highway department.

Murray, who is based in Sikeston, made his comments during a meeting Wednesday with the Southeast Missourian Editorial Board.

If the bond issue is approved, the department would pay around three-quarters of a billion dollars to retire the bonds after interest and other costs are added. The bonds would be fully retired by 2010.

Murray said the highway department decided to pursue this avenue rather than undertake only those projects it can currently afford because other considerations outweigh the financial implications.

The benefits yielded from safer roadways and the economic impact on communities of better highway access greatly diminish the net cost of interest payments, Murray said.

Since the highway department isn't asking for any new taxes to be levied, Murray sees no reason for the Legislature to put the bond measure before the voters.

"If we asked for any additional taxes, though, it would definitely have to be voted on by the people," Murray said.

Projections of future inflation and increases in construction costs would make some projects much more expensive if not done soon, he said.

Major projects affecting Southeast Missouri in the Short Term Action Plan include: completion of the four-lane extension of Highway 60 from Interstate 57 in Sikeston to Poplar Bluff; a Highway 67 bypass at Poplar Bluff; and completion of the Highway 74 bridge extension route in Cape Girardeau to Interstate 55.

"I think there are big benefits for Southeast Missouri," Murray said. "It will let us complete many projects that have been high priorities for 30 years."

Projects included in the three-year plan are based on the $2.6 billion price tag. "If we don't get the bond issue, we'll do what we can with $2.1 billion," Murray said.

The short-term plan replaced a more ambitious 15-year-plan after the department found the latter's goals unattainable due to unrealistic projections and cost overruns. However, Murray said all projects outlined in the 15-year plan are scheduled to be built, though not necessarily within 15 years.

"A lot of that will depend on future funding from the federal government," Murray said. "If that does not come to pass, obviously we've got to do something different and look at the whole picture again."

Federal funding for the Mississippi River bridge project remains unresolved, Murray said, but the department still has a goal of having the project under contract by May 1996. The bridge likely won't be affected by the outcome of the bond debate, Murray said.

He said the section of the four-lane Highway 74 approach to the proposed bridge which runs between South Kingshighway and South Sprigg Street could be open to traffic by the end of the year.