CITY GETS MIXED BRIDGE NEWS; PROJECT INCLUDED IN ILLINOIS PLAN, BUT MOST OF FUNDING ISN'T

Missouri officials received good and bad news Tuesday with Illinois Gov. John Edgar's unveiling of a new $5.4 billion, five-year highway program.

The good news is Cape Girardeau's Mississippi River bridge project is included in the highway plan. The bad news is most of the funding for the project isn't.

Missouri Highway and Transportation Commissioner John Oliver Jr. of Cape Girardeau said Edgar's announcement was like being thrown a bone with no meat on it.

"If the choices were: to be ignored to not get a bone at all; to get a bone with no meat; or to get a bone with meat on it what he did was throw a bone with no meat on it," Oliver said. "It's slightly better than being ignored."

The highway commissioner said that the bridge project was included in Illinois' highway plan provided "80 percent" of the necessary money for the work could be attained from sources other than the federal highway program allocation.

But Oliver said there isn't any other source. "It's smoke and mirrors," he said.

Illinois historically has financed major bridges and roads with what used to be known as federal discretionary funds, Oliver said.

"Before the new highway program, there was always part of the pot a pretty good-sized pot for bridge programs and another good-sized pot for highways," he said.

Oliver said Missouri always paid into the fund without a return, while Illinois usually received some of the discretionary money.

But the discretionary funds weren't included in the new highway program approved last year.

"So the pot Illinois used to go to, not only is it empty, it doesn't even exist anymore," Oliver said. "Yet they say that's the pot they're going to go to for funding for this project.

"Personally, I'm extremely disappointed."

Larry Payne, a member of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Surface Transportation Committee, said that any commitment from Illinois is better than nothing.

He said that if Illinois chooses to fund the project in the next couple of years, it would put the bridge project right on schedule.

"I think anything we have received where the governor of Illinois is signing off on their portion of the bridge is a very positive thing for Missouri and Cape Girardeau," Payne said.

"I think the time frame ties in very well with what I understand the Missouri transportation department is looking at."

But Oliver said that without funding, inclusion in the five-year plan essentially is meaningless.

He said it will enable Illinois to proceed with engineering plans for fiscal year 1992, and it also will allow Missouri to continue to acquire rights-of-way and complete engineering, core drillings and negotiations with the Corps of Engineers and Coast Guard.

"All those details up to and including the actual drawing of the bridge plan can go forward," Oliver said. "So we're not impeded in forward movement but we're nowhere near the commitment they're morally obligated to make."

U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson of Cape Girardeau also indicated he was disappointed that Edgar failed to earmark money for Illinois' share of the $83 million bridge project, particularly since federal funding for Illinois increased in the new highway bill.

"I am encouraged on the one hand to see Governor Edgar and the state of Illinois include the Cape river bridge in their five-year long range highway improvement plan," Emerson said.

"However, I find troubling the fact that the project has not had funds allocated specifically for this much-needed improvement despite the fact that the state of Illinois received $1.9 billion more in federal dollars over six years from the 1991 highway bill."

Walt Wildman, director of the Regional Commerce and Growth Association here, said he also had mixed feelings about Edgar's announcement.

"I was told previously that the local funds from the state would be allocated to that project, but that they still have to attain the federal funds," he said. "I've been there before, and I'll reserve judgment until after I can see that plan.

"But I do think it's good we've come this far. We've moved from a total non-discussion item to being in the plan. I think that's progress, but we're not done yet."