RIDGE GETS SCENIC BYWAY SIGNS: WILL IT PAY OFF?

Crowley's Ridge is special. The remnant of a glacially formed ridge starts at the Mississippi River near Commerce in Scott County and gently arcs across Stoddard and Dunklin counties before slipping into Arkansas and rejoining the river at Helena, Ark.

The ridge is two to four miles wide and generally rises about 300 feet above the flat fields of cotton, soybeans and rice that are so common in Missouri's Bootheel area. Overall, Crowley's Ridge extends for 200 miles in two states. Its importance to the area has long been evident. It boasts plant life found nowhere else in Missouri. Some of the forests along the ridge are much like visitors would have found two centuries ago. Civil War battlefields, historic homes, African American heritage sites , old military roads and ancient Indian trails abound along the ridge. The ridge has long been an important route for travelers, mainly because it rises above what once was swampland.

For months, various groups have been working to have highways along the ridge designated by the state as a scenic byway. All of the ridge that lies in Arkansas already has achieved state and federal designation. Last week, a 42-mile stretch in Dunklin County was dedicated by Missouri officials.

Efforts toward scenic-byway designation in Stoddard and Scott counties hasn't progressed quite so smoothly. Questions have been raised about the need for the designation, and some property owners have expressed concern about their property rights along any of the designated roads.

Officials who support the concept of scenic byways contend there are potential economic benefits. Gov. Mel Carnahan, at last week's dedication at Elder Cemetery on Route WW between Malden and Campbell, said Arkansas already has reaped some benefits, through the attraction of new businesses, of having an official scenic byway along Crowley's Ridge. The governor cited a study that showed an average of $32,000 a year of new tourism revenue would be generated for each mile of scenic byway.

That's a pretty hefty figure. If accurate, Missouri and Arkansas stand to share $6.4 million a year in new revenue along the entire 200-mile route from Commerce to Helena. Dunklin County alone can expect to take in $1.3 million a year, if the study's projections are accurate.

Motorists who have traveled all over our state know there are many other areas with prominent natural features and extraordinary beauty. Based on the study the governor cited, it only stands to reason that scenic-byway designation could quickly turn highway driving into one of Missouri's biggest industries.

In a couple of years, it might be a good idea to double-check those $32,000-a-mile estimates to see if they were close to accurate.