LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: VOTE YES TO KEEP ROAD WORK GOING

To the editor:

Cape Girardeau has a wonderful opportunity to move forward in a positive direction. As many of you may know, the city is proposing to extend the transportation sales tax to expand the Transportation Trust Fund program for another five years. A favorable vote would be a commitment to development in our community.

Voters in the city have been supportive of such issues. In February, voters approved by an 86 percent margin an $8.5 million bond issue to fund needed sanitary-sewer system improvement projects. Construction on the first project, the Mississippi River lift station and force main, began with a groundbreaking ceremony July 20.

The current half-cent transportation sales tax is funding 20 projects throughout the city. One of the most recently completed projected was Bloomfield Road. A groundbreaking ceremony was held July 27 marking the beginning of construction on the Hopper Road extension project. Other examples include Perryville Road completed in 1998 and the Broadway project currently under construction.

The proposed extension is a sales tax, which would be paid by all who shop in our city, not just city residents. This extension would fund needed transportation projects such as the extension of Mount Auburn Road and Silver Springs Road down to the area of the new Career and Technology Center and the new high school. Other proposed projects include the widening of Siemers Drive (including traffic signals), the installation of new street lights and the upgrading of existing street lights, and the reconstruction of Bloomfield Road out to Stonebridge Drive (including the replacement of the Ramsey Creek bridge).

This proposed extension would mean no tax increase, would allow better traffic flow and would provide safer streets in our community. I think the residents of Cape Girardeau have seen what improvements have been made due to the current Transportation Trust Fund program, and I hop they will continue to support the program by voting yes on Aug. 8.

Mayor A.M. SPRADLING III

Cape Girardeau