Scott County commissioner not it favor of northern I-66 route

BENTON, Mo. -- Scott County officials have nothing positive to say about a proposed interstate corridor north of the county.

Dennis Ziegenhorn, Scott County commissioner, said during the regular Scott County Commission meeting Tuesday he does not support a proposed route for a new east-west corridor, Interstate 66, as presented last week.

The engineering firm that made the presentation, Horner & Shifrin of St. Louis, presented information and sought "stakeholder feedback" on a route that would connect Interstate 24 at Paducah, Ky., with Interstate 55 in Missouri, according to Ziegenhorn.

Ziegenhorn said the firm is working for the state of Illinois on a route that connects those interstates in the Cape Girardeau area by taking the interstate through Southern Illinois.

"They wanted our input," he said. "My input was, 'Don't run it up that way; run it straight across and hit I-57.' My concern is, if you look at that circle [on the map of the proposed route], Sikeston is really out of the picture. It pretty much cuts out Sikeston and other areas of Scott County, which I wouldn't be in support of."

Ziegenhorn said the proposed northern route also appears to have other problems.

"It would take two bridges to come across if you went north with it," he said. "It would be a lot of expense for something that doesn't need to happen that way."

If a bridge is to be built, Ziegenhorn said, "it looks to me like it would make more sense to come across at Wickliffe, Ky. If you are coming across at Wickliffe, you only have to cross one river. You can get on I-55 to I-57, and then you can go as far west as you want to go -- they would have a corridor straight to Springfield. Or they could turn south and go to Memphis."

The northern route also would have to cross an area with state parks, a national forest, a national wildlife refuge and a state natural area, he said.