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Promoting Highway 84 in Washington, D.C.
The same might be said for a group of citizens from four states who went to Washington, D.C. last week in search of federal funding for the four-laning of U.S. Highway 84. Why Washington? "Washington is where the money is and where the power is," Janet Sullivan, president of the El Camino East-West Corridor Commission told attendees. The El Camino group's annual meeting was held in Washington July 11-12. El Camino is Spanish for "The King's Highway" and mostly follows U.S. Highway 84 across five states from Brunswick, Ga. to El Paso, Texas, a distance of 1,729 miles.
In Texas, portions of the route follow different highways, including Interstate 10 but much work remains to be done. Only about 18 miles of Lousiana's 168 miles are four-laned. Alabama's numbers Of Alabama's 235 miles of U.S. Highway 84, nearly 96 miles are four-laned, 15 are under construction and 42 are authorized in the five-year plan. Eighty-one miles- across parts of Monroe, Clarke and Choctaw counties in west Alabama- are not in any program for four-laning. Estimates are that it will take $180 million to complete the miles that are planned or authorized in Alabama and $500 million to $600 million to complete the 81 miles not in a plan. That's a total of $700 million to $800 million. A large delegation from Alabama was represented, the majority from Clarke and Monroe counties with some from Choctaw and Conecuh. Delegations from Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas were also in attendance.
Wednesday evening, Congressman Davis attended a reception hosted by the group at the Phoenix Park Hotel and aides from Congressman Bonner's office also attended. Delegates from each of the states offered comments at a breakfast in the Rayburn House Office Building across from the U.S. Capitol Thursday. Two congressmen, Alabama's Bonner, and Louisiana's Jim McCreary, made appearances and aides to Alabama senators and congressmen attended. Delegates detailed the importance of 84 as a hurricane evacuation route. Even though it is an east-west highway, many people used it to flee Hurricane Katrina as well as Hurricane Ivan and other storms. Sullivan, the El Camino Commission president, is also an administrative assistant in the Mississippi Department of Transportation. "Highway 84 into Natchez (in western Mississippi) was bumper to bumper for three days after Katrina," she said. "This message needs to be gotten out…[it] is a new challenge for funding," she observed. Mississippi almost completed She also proudly announced, "The last section of 84 [to be fourlaned] in Mississippi was let two months ago…Waynesboro to the [Alabama] state line [will be finished] in 2009. "By 2010 you will be able to ride on a four-laned Highway 84 from Natchez to the Alabama line," she said, to applause from the group. The accomplishment was over 20 years in the making, she added. Later, when asked to explain Mississippi's success she credited the elected highway commissioners for pushing for four-laned routes based on a priority of traffic counts, need and safety factors. The goal, she said, was to put every Mississippi resident within 30 minutes of a four-laned highway. Sandy Smith of the Monroeville and Monroe County Chamber of Commerce detailed Alabama's numbers as listed earlier, noting the "vast…area [of Highway 84] in the western part of the state" that remains to be four-laned. Smith is also secretary for the El Camino Commission. Federal dollars have been allocated for engineering studies for four-laning 84 from Evergreen to Monroeville, she noted. Chuck Murph, director of the Monroe County Emergency Management Agency, and Roy Waite, director of the Clarke County Emergency Management Agency, explained why Highway 84 should be developed as a hurricane evacuation route. The east-west road can help ease congestion from north-south highways, including Interstate 65. They also mentioned the industrial use of the route, including heavy usage by forestry products. Over 1,000 log trucks a day alone travel to the Alabama River pulp and paper mills at Claiborne along Highway 84, they said. That does not include other vehicles that push the numbers higher. Duke Lyons, city manager for St. Augustine, Texas, population 2,500, also spoke to the need for Highway 84 to be an evacuation route, saying Hurricane Rita "tore my town apart." He added, "If there is anything a small town needs, it is a four-laned highway." Janet Sullivan asked and answered her own question as to Mississippi's continued interest in improving the entire route across five states. "What's the point of having a developed four-lane [highway] if the people on each side of you don't. It's like being all dressed up and no place to go." As the conference ended she urged attendees to go home and work for Highway 84 improvements along its entire length. Delegates Clarke County delegates included Joe Bedwell, Jackson, Merchants Bank; Mayor Richard Long, Jackson; Mayor Sheldon Day, Thomasville; Mayor Faye Cotten, Coffeeville; Clarke County Commissioner Patricia DuBose, Jackson; Judy Graham, Alabama Power, Grove Hill and Jackson; Steve Green, Thomasville, Alabama River Pulp; Virginia Harrigan, Fulton, Harrigan Lumber Company; Sharon Jones, Coffeeville, El Camino Commission board member; LaShonda Holly, Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce; Roy Waite, Clarke County EMA; Tina Pugh, Jackson businesswoman; Marty Parker, Jackson, Boise; and Jim Cox, The Clarke County Democrat, Grove Hill, and The South Alabamian, Jackson. From Monroe County, John Barnett, Monroeville, Bank Trust; former Probate Judge Otha Lee Biggs, Peterman; Bill Scruggs, Excel, Monroe County Industrial Development Board; Kenneth Fairly, Monroeville, Alabama River Pulp; Peggy Jaye, Monroeville, Alabama River Pulp; Alisa Summerville, Monroeville, Alabama Power; Monroe County Commissioner Charlie McCorvey, Peterman; Monroe County Commissioner Tim McKenzie, Monroeville; Monroe County Probate Judge and Commission Chairman Greg Norris, Monroeville; K. T. Owens, Monroeville, Monroe County Tourism Board; Monroeville City Councilman Rodie Ruffin; Charles Murph, Monroe County EMA; and Sandy Smith, Monroeville/Monroe County Chamber of Commerce. Conecuh County attendees included Evergreen Mayor Larry Fluker and Evergreen Industrial Board representative Daryl Harper. Bobby Graham, the mayor of Gilbertown, attended from Choctaw County.
Wiley Blankenship, economic developer for Coastal Gateway and Twin Rivers economic development groups, which represents the counties listed and others, also attended.
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