County paving

When Cape Girardeau County voters approved a half-cent sales tax in 2006 for road improvements and the sheriff's department, commitments were made to speed up the county's paving schedule in an effort to put hard surfaces on as many roads as possible.

Two things have occurred since the August 2006 sales-tax vote.

Despite the clamor for more paving and the voters' approval of the tax issue, not all property owners along roads identified as top priorities for blacktopping have agreed to provide voluntary easements.

And county commissioners, in an effort to quell the dust on as many gravel roads as possible, decided to use chip-and-seal on some roads rather than paving with asphalt. Both have had the effect of keeping the paving schedule at a slower pace than hoped for.

But some county residents, including some members of the advisory road and bridge board, have suggested ways to speed up the paving. One would be to move on to other roads rather than waiting on landowners who are reluctant, for whatever reasons, to sign easements.

There are plenty of property owners willing to give the easements, and there certainly are plenty of county roads in need of paving. While it's understandable that the county commissioners would like to pave the roads that are most heavily used, it should also find ways to move the paving schedule along as quickly as possible.