LETTERS: TOLL ROAD STILL A GOOD IDEA

To the editor:

I read with interest Joe Sullivan's column about his problem getting to the Lake of the Ozarks. Let me refresh your memory.

When I was governor, we passed a toll-road bill patterned after Kentucky, because that legislation was declared constitutional in the Blue Grass State. We were not that fortunate in Missouri. It was them submitted to the people and was defeated.

One of the ideas was to build a toll road from a point on Interstate 55 to Kansas City with an offshoot to Jefferson City and Columbia. Another possibility was a toll road bisecting the state. This was opposed by one newspaper editor in West Plains who said he did not want to pay a toll to get to Jefferson City. I wrote him and told him that he did not have to pay a toll to get to Jefferson City, as he could always use old U.S. 63.

I have tried unsuccessfully to get a member of the General Assembly to forget about the rest of the state and introduce legislation for the toll road to Kansas City. If I were going to Jefferson City,I would gladly pay a toll rather than go by St. Louis and worry about "get out" traffic and/or possible new construction. This might be a good project for the Southeast Missourian.

WARREN E. HEARNES

Charleston

EDITOR'S NOTE: Former Governor Hearnes is executive director of Southeast Missouri Legal Services Inc. in Charleston.