Someday, I am confident a major federal infrastructure package is going to move through Congress.
It may be bi-partisan, or not. Both sides have talked about it for years. Something is going to move, and it needs to do so. Platte County happens to be at a crossroads of the United States.
From the days when U.S. 69 and U.S. 71 met in Riverside to now when various four-lane highways and a major American airport grace our hills and valleys. So whatever passes, we’re going to have opportunities.
I am reminded of the old saying, “be careful what you wish for.” I’ve wished in print for a number of improvements over the years that carry big price tags. Some may happen in the next decade. But my driving across Missouri and in the Northland in recent months reminds me that progress comes with pain. Orange barrels are already quite common this summer.
I’ve been in creep-and-crawl traffic backups this spring and witnessed some huge ones in oncoming lanes. An infrastructure package could fund some major things that are needed for the future but will bring challenges for the present.
Graham
Trouble is, if you don’t bring things up to snuff for the present, or better yet, fix them in anticipation for the future, you’re creating a mess for young folks to deal with someday. Jobs also provide an upside.
Whatever happens in Congress this summer, I’ll bet you an apple dumpling at Weston’s Applefest that inciteful folks at the county and state level who deal with infrastructure have sharpened their pencils, made wish lists, and have started to express their wishes to elected representatives.
Regardless of political party posturing, all private and public movers and shakers love the smell of federal pork.
So, if bacon is on the way, here is my wish list for Platte County.
Let’s make Missouri 92 in the Northland a super-two road. Two lanes, but wide lanes with actual shoulders and separate turn lanes at intersections. Sometimes Missouri 92 is a nice quiet twisting and turning country blacktop. But other times it’s a busy and dangerous road. I avoid it at night if possible. Missouri 152 is an east-west four lane, but it’s too far south to help the county’s north end. And it leads into a bad and regrettable traffic crunch at the I-35 intersection at Liberty.
I’ll go for high-speed Internet throughout the county. Good hard-wired lines may be the best way it can be secure and dependable.
The county’s road districts have already done some significant upgrades on roads and bridges. But I bet there are more in the rural areas that need work, and why not now before the growth in the county that is bound to come.
Other states have done a better job of using trees, landscaping, and buffer walls to deaden sound coming off the interstates. Our own I-29 and I-435 are loud highways for anyone within a few miles. That hurts property values and enjoyment of our yards and gardens. Let’s improve highway sound control along all major federal and state roads.
I’d bet trail money is in a package. People love trails. Let’s hope federal funding opportunities puts Platte County parks back in the game.
I’ve longed for light rail to reach KCI. I now suspect that it would be technologically outdated by the time it’s finished. But I wish for something in the federal package that boosts mass transit along the I-29 corridor, and possibly as well along Missouri 45. Some county residents might welcome it along U.S. 169.
So, there we go. A decade from now we can see if any of that happened or is planned. Even if a major infrastructure package doesn’t get approved, some of these things must be done, anyway.