HIGHWAY 34 IS KEY TO EAST-WEST ACCESS

The Missouri Department of Transportation, in yet another of what has become a steady stream of project announcements in Southeast Missouri, said last week that preliminary studies will be done on the improvement of Highway 34 between Jackson and U.S. 60 near Van Buren.

Barring unforeseen developments, work on realigning, straightening and widening the 97-mile stretch of narrow and winding two-lane highway could get under way in 2005 or 2006.

That wouldn't be any too soon. The improvement of Highway 34 would be a significant one for the region, because it would offer a faster and safer direct route between Cape Girardeau and north-south U.S. 67 and east-west U.S. 60.

An improved Highway 34 would be more heavily used by motorists and truckers who travel Interstate 55 south and those who enter Cape Girardeau from Illinois headed west into Missouri. On the other end of the improvement, more traffic going into east-central Missouri and Southern Illinois would use Highway 34. Now, most travelers headed to points west of here from Cape Girardeau go to Sikeston and pick up Highway 60, avoiding the much-shorter but less safe Highway 34.

The Highway 34 improvement would compliment other improvements that have taken place or are planned on either end of the stretch between Cape Girardeau and Van Buren:

-- The four-lane Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge and east-west four-lane highway across Cape Girardeau from the Mississippi River to I-55.

-- The planned Highway 34 bypass of Jackson that will tie in with the cross-city highway and bridge to move traffic more swiftly to Highway 34 west of Jackson.

-- The expansion to four lanes of divided highway all along U.S. 60 across southern Missouri

Planning for the Highway 34 improvement is only in the preliminary stages, which means it likely would be 10 years or longer before the work is carried out. But in keeping with MoDOT's 15-year plan, the project remains a priority that could realistically be completed within the next decade.

It is a project long overdue that would mean not only a more-direct and safer highway to and from central Missouri but would bring some much-needed economic benefits to Bollinger, Wayne, Reynolds and Carter counties along the way.