COUNTY DOING GOOD JOB IN BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION

When bridge construction is mentioned by governmental bodies these days, it isn't always a multi-million dollar project being discussed. Drawing lesser notice except for those people whose safety and convenience are greatly influenced by them are smaller, rural and less expensive bridges. Cape Girardeau County officials have made exemplary efforts in using the resources they have available to improve public infrastructure, and a bridge project about to be launched in the county is further proof of that.

Bridges are not low-cost items, and governments aren't fiscally equipped these days to commission a great many of them. Because of this, it is essential that those people who manage the public purse~strings have a good reckoning of what is needed, what is affordable and how to get the most bang for the taxpayers' bucks.

Bridges on the back roads of Cape Girardeau County don't span nationally known waterways or famous gorges. From a perspective of traffic counts, the volume they accommodate is not extraordinary. But they do carry school buses, enhance agricultural commerce and provide an important transportation link for a largely rural area. In short, they are important, even though a great many citizens in the county will never travel over them.

The Cape Girardeau County Commission last week opened bids for a 200-foot bridge that will cross the Diversion Channel west of Whitewater. When it is completed (at a cost of almost $400,000) later this year, the span will replace a bridge constructed six decades ago. It is the longest and most expensive bridge the county has sanctioned, though it is not the only current activity. Nearing completion is the $200,000 Caney Fork Bridge between Millersville and Oak Ridge. Leonard F. Sander, the county commissioner who oversees bridges and roads, and something of an authority when it comes to rural infrastructure, points out that by the completion of these two projects, the county will have built 44 bridges since 1973, or about two a year.

For these two bridges, the county had to depend on federal off-systems highway dollars, money from Washington for which the county has to provide a matching amount. This money is not automatically at the county's disposal, and officials in Jackson must still do the work in assigning priorities, measuring safety demands and prudently allocating money that comes from local sources and from Washington. If the job is done poorly, the rural residents of this county travel less safely.

We applaud the work of the county in keeping up with bridge construction as it can.