HIGHWAY PLANS: SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

At a meeting in Jackson last week, a comprehensive regional road, highway and bridge improvement plan was unveiled before an audience of local citizens, elected officials and officials of the Missouri Department of Transportation. Presenting the plan was local transportation consultant Walt Wildman, who has spent years lobbying for the proposed Interstate 66 project. Exactly who else was involved in preparing the plan wasn't disclosed at the meeting. Included in the plan are no fewer than 19 proposed improvements for the greater Cape Girardeau area.

"Most of this is a wish list," said Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones. Asked whether there is any figure for carrying out all 19 improvements, or even a single one, Jones said, "My goodness, no. We realize there are limits for the financial aspect of the highway department."

Calling the proposed improvements a "20-plus-year plan," Jackson Mayor Paul Sander added: "I don't think anybody is here to say that this is the right or wrong thing. It's simply another plan for consideration." Other observers have analyzed the plan and said that to implement it, a 20-year time line clearly understates the challenge.

One item not among the 19 is the proposed I-55 interchange at Oak Ridge. The Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission recently announced its intention to build this interchange, possibly in the year 2000. More than a few observers have questioned the origin of this announcement, stressing that other regional transportation needs should enjoy greater priority.

Jones said earlier that a single proposed Highway 34 bypass around Jackson had been estimated to cost $80 to $90 million. He stressed the need for realism in presenting to the state a plan more in line with what the state can feasibly be expected to spend here. All the governmental entities involved will have to determine which projects are their priorities, Jones said, "and then we will have to start seeing what we can really afford to do."

Most of the 19 proposed improvements aren't new routes but rather call for widening and extending existing roadways. "There's not a lot of new stuff on this map," said Wildman.

An ambitious, visionary proposal, the plan contains many laudable features. Don't hold your breath on timely completion of all 19 -- or even, until much more is known -- of one.