U.S. 60 UPGRADE IS MAJOR IMPROVEMENT

Motorists in Poplar Bluff, Dexter, Sikeston and points in between Friday celebrated the opening of the improved U.S. 60 even before all 48 miles of the stretch from Poplar Bluff to Sikeston were finished.

Even as a festive caravan moved along the improved state route from Poplar Bluff eastward to Sikeston, workers put final touches to the 13-mile section from Dexter to Morehouse. This section is to open next Tuesday in time for the busy Thanksgiving weekend.

Those participating in the caravan and ceremonies in each of the three cities had reason to celebrate: They have waited a long time to be able to drive the divided four-lane highway uninterrupted from Poplar Bluff to Sikeston. It replaces a two-lane road that posed the dangers and traffic slowdowns that come with such routes.

The improvement is particularly significant because U.S. 60 carries a lot of heavy truck traffic and is the only direct east-west route across southern Missouri. The highway is much safer and driving times much shorter.

Completion of the Dexter-to-Morehouse segment means motorists can drive four lanes of 65-mph highway from Poplar Bluff to Sikeston, where they can pick up Interstates 55 or 57. North-south I-57 runs from Sikeston to Cairo, Ill., which makes getting to Sikeston and on in to Illinois a much easier and safer trip. I-55 runs from the Arkansas line to the St. Louis area, which makes it easier to travel northward from southern Missouri.

Work on converting U.S. 60 to four lanes all the way across Missouri has been going on for almost three decades. Much of U.S. 60 has been four lanes from Willow Springs to Springfield, where motorists can catch Interstate 44. Only 100 miles from Poplar Bluff, where a nice bypass was built, to Willow Springs remains unimproved. The Missouri Department of Transportation plans to continue work on segments of that stretch until all of U.S. 60 is four lanes.

At $1 million-plus per mile and having to come up with 20 percent of the cost, it is taking the state some time to complete the entire improvement. But good things take time, and completion of the latest stretch is one of the best highway improvements to come along in southern Missouri since the interstates.