CAPE GIRARDEAU ROAD PLAN WORKING WELL

Trust is a matter of confidence, reliance and integrity. Cape Girardeau's Transportation Trust Fund is a place where tax dollars are held to pay for 20 designated street improvement projects. That fund carries the trust of the community that these projects will be completed in a timely matter.

So far, the city has done a good job earning and keeping taxpayers' trust on this road commitment.

Attention all bureaucrats in Jefferson City and Washington, D.C.: Government can keep its word. And when it does, taxpayers are appreciative.

In 1995, Cape Girardeau voters approved a five-year half-cent sales tax for new road construction, major repairs and road maintenance and upkeep. The projects are scattered throughout the city. When completed, they will benefit the entire community.

The work doesn't come without inconvenience. The widening of Broadway from Perry to Clark is coming up. A stretch of Perryville Road has been closed for some time. Hopper Road will be extended from Mount Auburn to Kage Road. These projects, and several others, can prove a real headache for hurried residents.

But most motorists understand that progress carries a price. What matters most is the work is getting done and the finished projects will make city travel flow much better.

These projects have been so successful that the city is looking at the possibility of a repeat performance. Officials may ask voters to extend the Transportation Trust Fund sales tax to finance a completely new set of priority street projects.

The success of this current project may certainly help sway voters.

Transportation Trust Fund dollars are put to very specific uses, which are spelled out at the start. A sunset on the tax is also very appealing to voters. When the projects are finished, the tax ends.

It is easy to become jaded about government abuse and misuse of power. Political cat fights and pundits are constantly ballyhooing outrageous government spending: $1,000 hammers, trillion-dollar deficits, pork-barrel projects.

But where's CNN? Cape Girardeau officials -- as in many communities across the country -- are keeping their word about spending for street improvements. That trust between local government and taxpayers helps cushion the disgraceful abuses over which we have no control.