TRANSPORTATION FOCUS OF FORUMS

On Tuesday, Missouri's metropolitan residents told a special commission where state transportation funding should go.

In less than two weeks, Cape Girardeau residents get their chance to do the same.

The Total Transportation Commission is comprised of 35 officials, community leaders and business people from across the state. Its chairman is Steve Bradford, who owns a private duty nursing company in Hayti.

Gov. Mel Carnahan first mentioned the commission in this year's state of the state address, promising it would help promote Missouri's continuing growth. As part of that duty, commissioners are leading the drive to collect information from residents all over the state.

They are doing so through public forums. The first was Tuesday in St. Louis. The Cape Girardeau forum is scheduled for 1-7 p.m. Nov. 21 at Drury Lodge. Others will be conducted in Kirksville, Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia and Maryville.

Commissioners want to know about transportation issues, not specific projects, said Scott Meyer, District 10 engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation. The urban-versus-rural battle over state transportation funds is near the top of the issues list. City dwellers say more money should be allocated for mass transit; rural people want better access to major thoroughfares and funding for small airports.

Meyer said another big issue is the state gas tax. The Missouri Constitution says money raised through the tax is to be used on highways, yet there are a variety of other transportation modes that need funding.

"This is a real opportunity for rural Missourians to speak out," Meyer said. "Don't just think about highways. Remember, you have a port out there, a railroad system and a need to help older adults get transportation."

Particularly because of the area's diverse modes of transportation, the Department of Economic Development is interested in what residents have to say about it. Department spokesman Jim Gardner said officials want to support projects that encourage economic growth.

"You have a regional port," he said. "Many times there are factories that need materials carried by barge, but they need a rail spur from the river to the plant. Then they need a highway system to get their products to market.

"We want to know how to help."

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce already told the Total Transportation Commission how it can help. Chamber President John Mehner said his organization didn't wait for the commission to come here -- he sent a position statement to commissioners and the governor in September.

He said transportation issues are extremely important to economic development. When chamber members saw the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department change its name to the Missouri Department of Transportation, they knew the department's focus would change.

"They aren't just the road and bridge people anymore," Mehner said. "They have had other responsibilities in the past, but they didn't have a total transportation focus as they do now."

While the chamber understands that metropolitan regions have needs, he said, members wanted to be sure rural Missouri got a fair amount of transportation funding.

The position statement urges completion of projects promised when voters in the mid-1980s passed Proposition A, an increase in the gas tax. It also asks for state money for airports affected when the federal government cut control tower operation funding.

Mehner said he planned to attend the commission forum in Cape Girardeau to discuss additional issues.