AREA STATE REP FINDS MUCH SUPPORT IN WALK TO CAPITAL

Though he is tired and aching, state Rep. Rod Jetton is encouraged by the amount of support he has gotten from citizens and officials during his walk to Jefferson City.

"The attention and help from citizens is better than I ever imagined," he said Sunday while taking a day of rest. "People are coming out from all over the place."

Jetton, R-Marble Hill, planned the walk to deliver petitions, signed by residents along the way, to demand the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission complete 10 road projects in an area from the capital to the Bootheel. The petitions also seek to have the highway commission reorganized to reduce waste and provide more accountability for tax dollars. He hopes to make Jefferson City by Friday.

However, Jetton admitted walking 20-30 miles a day is grueling.

"Being a Marine, I thought that'd be easy," he said. "Of course, it's been a long time since my Marine training."

Jetton said he is concerned about his last week of travel, which will include three days where he will walk more than 30 miles. "Hopefully, this week toughened up my legs, and I'll be able to get through it," he said.

Has opened his eyes

Today, Jetton plans to walk U.S. 67 from Farmington, Mo., to Desloge, Mo., where he is to meet with the mayor and other city officials to discuss concerns there. Although he will have to leave earlier than planned to make the meeting, he said it's worth it.

"This is what I'm doing the walk for to get the chance to meet with people to hear their concerns," he said.

From Desloge, Jetton plans to travel Highway Z to Highway 8, and end at Potosi, Mo.

Jetton said that meeting with different people has opened his eyes to the realities citizens face when dealing with future transportation issues. One example, he said, involves the homeowners along the land where MoDOT plans to widen U.S. 67 to four lanes all the way down to Arkansas.

Because of the lack of funding, he said, MoDOT doesn't know when the project will be started, leaving the home and business owners along the route in limbo. MoDOT will buy the homes and businesses when the project gets started, but until then, the owners are in a tough spot.

"No one will be able to sell a house along there, because who would want to buy a home knowing it could be torn down at any time?" he said.

If a job transfer were to happen to any of the residents, he said, the only thing they could hope to do with their house would be to rent it out.

Their biggest investment

"This is a very real situation," he said, "Most people, their home is their biggest investment, and to be stuck in a situation like this is very hard."

Some businesses along the route also can't get loans from banks, Jetton said.

"If I hadn't done this walk, and sat down and talked to these people, I would never be aware of this," he said. "And I don't know if my buddies in the legislature are aware of it, either."

After a rest day, Jetton will continue his journey, and hopes he won't have to use the substitute walkers who offered to relieve him.

"As a Marine, I hate to think that would happen," he said. "I"d like to think I would make it no matter what."

Jetton also said he would still like to encourage citizens to sign petitions and send them to Jefferson City, and estimated he had collected over 4,000 signatures so far.

"We're getting more in every day," he said. "I don't want people to think it's too late."