Senate approves bill to help build trail, regional projects

Federal taxpayers are going to help Cape Girardeau's trail system, U.S. Sen. Kit Bond announced.

In the $1.1 trillion spending bill approved by the U.S. Senate on Sunday, Bond, R-Mo., secured $1.6 million to build a bridge over Sloan Creek that will connect the recently completed Riverwalk extension north of downtown to a growing sidewalk and trail program.

The bridge, once completed, will allow hikers and bikers to go from the downtown riverfront to the Red Star River Access off North Main Street owned by the Missouri Department of Conservation. A city plan to rebuild Big Bend Road with new sidewalks and add sidewalks along Bertling Street next year will connect that downtown trail to the La­Croix Trail on the west side of Cape Girardeau.

The Riverwalk Trail was extended this year at a cost of $453,000 in federal transportation enhancement funds and local matching money.

Other Southeast Missouri items sought by Bond and included in the spending bill, at a total of $8.15 million, are:

• $500,000 for the Missouri NASA Math, Science and Technology Education Enhancement Program at Southeast Missouri State University. An annual request, the program provides education materials and assistance for schools across the state.
• $1.5 million for the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department for the Missouri Sheriff's Methamphetamine Relief Team. Sheriff John Jordan administers the statewide fund, which provides assistance to sheriff's departments and multijurisdictional drug task forces.
• $700,000 for the Forensic Science Research and Education Laboratory at Southeast Missouri State University. The money will pay to construct and equip a facility to serve law enforcement with training and research.
• $1 million for engineering and construction of a new Interstate 55 interchange in Scott City.
• $1.15 million for realignment and reconstruction of Highway 34 in Bollinger County.
• $1.7 million for relocation of a taxiway at Sikeston Memorial Municipal Airport.

The spending bill including the money passed the Senate 57-35 Sunday. Bond was in Missouri and not present for the vote, spokeswoman Shana Marchio said. Bond was attending important economic development meetings about bringing jobs to Missouri when he missed the vote, she said.

Bond would have been a fourth Republican vote for the bill if he had been in attendance, Marchio said. Bond was a member of the House-Senate Conference Committee that wrote the final bill and supported the committee's work. He had also voted for the bill when it was being approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, she said.

"While Harry Reid and other Democrats may not want to be back home hearing from unhappy constituents -- I make it a point to get back to Missouri," Bond said in an e-mail sent from his office.

Missouri's other U.S. senator, Democrat Claire McCaskill, was one of three Democrats who voted against the measure.

President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill into law later this week, Marchio said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent addresses:

U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC

1 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO

Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO