State officials not sold on Kentucky link for I-66

Missouri state highway officials aren't sold on the idea of building a new Mississippi River five miles south of Wickliffe, Ky., as part of a proposed I-66 project that has drawn interest from Kentucky's transportation planners.

Such a bridge could end up costing $140 million, an expense that makes little sense when a new four-lane bridge already is under construction in Cape Girardeau, Missouri Department of Transportation district engineer Scott Meyer says.

About $100 million in federal, Missouri and Illinois tax dollars is being spent on building the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge at Cape Girardeau, about 35 miles northwest of Wickliffe.

"We think on such a short length of the river to have an additional bridge probably isn't feasible," Meyer said. "We have a hard time with building a new bridge. That doesn't seem to be good use of taxpayer money."

Meyer said his estimate for a constructing a new bridge is based on inflation and the fact the river is wider south of Cairo, Ill., than it is at Cape Girardeau.

Even if a new bridge were to be built, it wouldn't happen for at least 10 to 15 years, he said.

Meyer favors routing the proposed interstate from Kentucky through Southern Illinois and across the new bridge at Cape Girardeau or possibly the I-57 bridge at Cairo.

I-66 is a proposed cross-country highway that did not pass the cost-benefit ratio test when studied by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 1991. But 13 of the states the highway would cross were encouraged by the department to show how the federal government could participate in the construction of the project.

Cape Girardeau civic leaders want the highway routed across the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, arguing that the area has long needed a four-lane east-west highway.

A $500,000 study

But Kentucky transportation officials are looking at a route that could include construction of a new bridge in the Wickliffe area, bypassing Cape Girardeau entirely.

Kentucky has embarked on a $500,000 study to determine the best route for I-66 through western Kentucky.

MoDOT is providing $50,000 and may pay as much $100,000 toward the study which could be completed by May. Illinois so far has shown little interest in the project.

Civic and industrial development leaders in Charleston, Mo., are pushing for the new bridge. They say it could bring a new interstate near their town and boost economic development in Mississippi County. The route could connect to I-57 north of Charleston. I-57 runs into U.S. 60 at Sikeston, Mo.

U.S. 60 has been improved in recent years and is a four-lane divided highway across much of southern Missouri. MoDOT is working to finish widening the highway where it is still two lanes.

Betty Hearnes, president of the Mississippi County Industrial Development Authority, said her group is looking at the possibility of a toll bridge at a point south of Wickliffe where the river is a half-mile wide, the narrowest area along that part of the river.

"We know that Missouri is not going to build any more bridges than it has to," she said. Charging tolls could help pay for the span, Hearnes said.

"Kentucky wants to build a four-lane highway to Wickliffe. We want to figure a way to build a bridge to get the traffic across the river," she said.

Hearnes said her group has met with Kentucky transportation officials and western Kentucky economic development leaders.

Hearnes said a new bridge would help Mississippi County attract new industry. But she admits the bridge project is "a long shot."

Meyer said Kentucky highway officials see the I-66 project as a tool to stimulate the depressed economy of western Kentucky.

Bruce Siria, project manager for the Kentucky highway department, said routing I-66 through Southern Illinois won't benefit Kentucky because it provides no better access to the state.

The forest question

The Illinois route would run through the Shawnee National Forest, raising environmental issues that would make it difficult to build there, Siria said.

But John Mehner, president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, believes the national forest is not a problem. "They build highways through national forests all over the United States," he said.

Mehner outlined the chamber's support for the Illinois route in written remarks to the Missouri State Highways and Transportation Commission last month.

The highway commission endorsed the Cape Girardeau route in 1995.

In connection with the I-66 route, Mehner and other Cape Girardeau civic leaders want to see Highway 34 improved to provide another route southwest to Highway 60 rather than rely solely on I-55 as a connecting link.

"We know Missouri has no money to spend right now," said Mehner. "The Highway 34 improvements could come at a later date, but I-66 should be routed over the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge. It very well then may be routed down I-55."

Meyer favors routing I-66 traffic along I-55 south from Cape Girardeau to Sikeston and then west over U.S. 60 if the interstate comes across the Emerson bridge. "We don't see building a brand new four-lane corridor," he said.

"If you look on a national scale, traveling 25 to 30 miles over an existing interstate to get to another interstate isn't unusual at all," said Meyer.

Mehner argues that enabling federal legislation would route I-66 through Illinois. But Kentucky's Siria believes the wording by Congress is a guideline that doesn't rule out the Wickliffe route.

But Mehner said it's important that I-66 be routed through Cape Girardeau. "We drastically have to have an east-west route out of here," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123