CLOSING THE GAP

Plans to connect Charleston, Mo., and Paducah, Ky., by way of a new bridge across the Mississippi River is still just a dream for backers in both states, but a bridge feasibility study funded by federal highway funds makes the vision seem more real.

Credit for the plan goes to members of the Close the Gap Committee, a group that sees advantages to link I-24 at Paducah with I-57 and I-55 at Charleston. Currently, motorists traveling from Southeast Missouri to Paducah generally cross the river into Southern Illinois before going over the Ohio River into Kentucky. This entails driving on U.S. 60 or alternate two-lane roads, none of which is a all-too-pleasant experience.

Kentucky wants to upgrade U.S. 60 between Wickliffe and Paducah to a four-lane highway. Closing the Gap Committee members see a natural tie-in with their overall concept.

The big question, as with any major highway project, is where the money will come from. Kentucky is paying for the bridge feasibility study because Missouri funds are committed to other projects. Meanwhile, another major Mississippi River bridge project, the one here in Cape Girardeau, is languishing for lack of funding either in Illinois or Missouri. Highway departments in both states still say the bridge will be built -- eventually, but future funding is still uncertain.

The Closing the Gap Committee thinks it has an answer to the money question: a toll bridge. This certainly isn't a new idea, but it is one that comes with its own set of pitfalls. For example, although Kentucky already allows toll bridges, it would take special legislation to permit Missouri to participate in the bistate project. At some point -- providing the bridge feasibility study looks positive -- the Missouri General Assembly will be asked to authorize that participation.

What comes to pass remains to be seen, but it is clear that the Closing the Gap Committee has both a good handle on what it wants to accomplish as well as a committed two-state effort to shepherd the project.

The need for improved east-west links between Missouri and its neighbors to the east plus a funding mechanism that could pay the bills give the Closing the Gap Committee's effort a strong position for seeing the project to completion.