WORK IS STILL PROGRESSING ON HIGHWAY 60

Western Kentucky U.S. Rep. Tom Barlow last week introduced an amendment to the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to include wording that designates a proposed east-west Interstate 66 would run through Paducah.

The concept of I-66 originated with the Cape Girardeau Regional Commerce and Growth Association about five years ago. The only route-specific language in the federal highway bill that authorized a study of the proposed coast-to-coast highway was for a few cities in eastern Kentucky.

Several proponents of the project, including Walt Wildman, executive director of the RCGA and co-director of I-66 Project, Inc., believe if Barlow is successful getting his amendment passed, that would increase the likelihood of the route running through Cape Girardeau.

Wildman said it would make sense for the interstate route to run across Southern Illinois from Paducah, cross the Mississippi River at or near Cape Girardeau, and then follow the Highway 34 corridor through Marble Hill and Piedmont and tie in with Highway 60 at Van Buren.

A preliminary study should be concluded by early next year on the types of highways I-66 could be.

At a national meeting of representatives from cities and states along the proposed route Nov. 17 in St. Louis, Wildman said the I-66 organization hopes to begin developing a consensus on where the route should be -- from Virginia to California.

"We hope to go to the next session of Congress, get additional funding for the next phase of our study, and at the same time have that funding accompanied with route-specific language," said Wildman.

Not everyone agrees with Wildman that Highway 34 would be the logical corridor, or that the I-66 concept will move on a fast pace.

"I don't know what the I-66 corridor is going to be; until the studies come back we can't say," said Cape Girardeau's John Oliver, a member of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission. "We have much more immediate concerns in this area, like the Mississippi River bridge in Cape. There won't be a town left to put the I-66 corridor through if the bridge doesn't get done."

Oliver points out that the state of Illinois still has not committed its share of funding on the new bridges at Cape Girardeau and Hannibal, and until it does, those projects are clouded.

"Illinois is taking a stonewall approach to this," said Oliver. "They are saying `the problem is yours, not ours.'"

Oliver said Missouri is proceeding with its plans for the bridge, and Illinois' lack of commitment has not delayed the project yet. "We have a year and a half before it becomes critical," said Oliver.

Some have suggested that Highway 60, which is being upgraded in both Missouri and Kentucky, would be the most viable corridor for a the proposed interstate.

Oliver said that work on Highway 60 is proceeding at a rapid pace and work to widen the highway from Sikeston to Willow Springs will be completed within six years, if federal funding continues at anticipated levels. The highway is already four lane from Willow Springs to Springfield.

Bob Simpson, assistant District 10 highway engineer, explained that once completed, all of Highway 60 in Missouri will be up to expressway standards and could easily be upgraded to interstate standards. The bridges that are being constructed along the route meet seismic standards and are wide enough for an interstate.

"The plan is to eventually take it to interstate standards, though I don't know when," said Simpson. Upgrading to interstate standards would require having interchanges instead of crossings at roadways along the route.

Simpson said with the study still under way, there has not been much discussion about routes for I-66, but said Highway 60, when completed, could be "a viable corridor."

But Wildman said there are serious geographic problems near the Missouri-Kentucky border that might be difficult to overcome if that were the I-66 route.

Running from Paducah across Southern Illinois would require the route to pass through part of the Shawnee National Forest, but Wildman said the I-66 group has received some assurances from forest service officials that would not be a serious problem.

Wildman said he is a strong supporter of getting Highway 60 finished as soon as possible, and testified before the highway commission Oct. 1 urging the panel to move quickly to finish the project.

"But I don't see Highway 66 and I-66 as related projects until Van Buren," said Wildman. "The end result is that we get two east-west highways instead of one."

Wildman admitted there will be a lot of discussion before a route is finalized. But he believes in this area, using the route across Southern Illinois to Cape Girardeau and along the 34 corridor will be more in line with the goals of I-66.

"We want to stay true to the philosophy of this interstate as possible, which is to have as straight of an east-west highway as possible to insure as large of an economic impact as possible," said Wildman.

Completion of Highway 60 between Sikeston and Willow Springs will cost about $280 million. Simpson said one of the top priorities of District 10 is getting the 50 mile stretch between Poplar Bluff and Sikeston -- which will cost $60 million -- finished

Said Simpson: "We are trying to push and accelerate between Sikeston and Poplar Bluff as quickly as possible after money becomes available. We have three contracts to be let over the next nine months. We will let a pretty large contract for the Dudley area next month and have two more contracts ready to let as soon as money becomes available."

Simpson pointed out that this year's appropriation for highways by Congress is on a continuing resolution, which makes funding uncertain for now. "The funding has to always come together before we can do anything," he noted.

Oliver agrees that federal funding is an uncertainty right now as Missouri looks to the future with a variety of highway projects around the state. He said the focus on Highway 60 is to take care of the bottleneck areas first.

Oliver also pointed out that all federal highway demonstration projects, which have been used in the past to expedite some special projects, have been removed from the appropriations bills this year.

He termed I-66 as "a viable long-term goal," but added, "we don't need to be frittering money away on that when the problem is there is not enough money coming from Illinois to fund their share.

"It is great to have vision. If you don't have vision nothing gets done. But sometimes the vision can destroy the present," said Oliver.