Passage of Amendment 3 inflates the hopes of Interstate 49 proponents

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Herald

It's been talked about for a long time, turning U.S. 71 Highway into an interstate highway, but little has been accomplished in more than a decade of effort. That may be changing now that Amendment 3 passed Nov. 2. A group is forming to take advantage of that change and the Interstate 49 International Coalition is on hand to help organizers get on track.

On Friday, a group of coalition members and those with an interest in the project met at Greenfield's in Nevada, sort of a central location for the Missouri portion of the proposed interstate, from the state line to Kansas City.

"You might call it a coalition of coalitions," Gard Wayt, executive vice president said. "There are groups up and down the corridor that are working to get improvements in their sections and we work with them to make it happen. The group is international because the corridor extends from Winnipeg, Canada, to New Orleans, La., a major international port for shipping to Mexico and Latin America."

There are some roadblocks to the project, the biggest of which is money, but new elected officials in office, Missouri's voter-approved Amendment 3 relating to road funds, and upcoming legislative review of highway funding at the national level has helped to renew interest in the project.

Rob O'Brian, president of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, said the time was right with the passage of Amendment 3 and a federal highway bill under consideration.

"People have been looking at Highway 71 for years. It is the number one priority corridor from Kansas City to Louisiana," O'Brian said. "We think now is the time with the federal highway bill coming up."

Proponents of the upgrade say the highway upgrade would encourage tourism by facilitating transportation to the area, and that communities along the corridor could benefit in terms of economic development.

Already, U.S. 71 is a major north-south transportation route, and the Louisiana portion of the highway has already been constructed as I-49.

Chris Gutierrez, president of SmartPort in Kansas City, said that in addition to the two reasons already mentioned the elections provided new people in power and the group would benefit from the change.

"With a new governor and the new legislators this is a great time to mobilize together," Gutierrez said. "We need to get to work on that federal highway bill."

Wayt told those assembled that although the project would cost a lot of money, the savings in lower fuel costs would pay for the project in less than six years.

"The project costs about $5 billion, and the fuel savings over a six year period would be $5 billion so it would be a wash, the project would pay for itself, and that's when gas was $1.50 a gallon," Wayt said.

"With the higher gas prices I think it would pay off much quicker. In addition it is estimated that the project would create a quarter million jobs because of increased usage."

The group broke up after deciding to proceed with the creation of a local organization to promote the I-49 project.