Highway 83 to Asia idea draws notice

News from McCook is spreading across the nation. Sparking the interest is last week's transportation task force meeting at McCook Community College. During that session, the governor's study group was told "U.S. Highway 83 could one day stretch all the way to Asia."

The dramatic declaration was deemed worthy of being the top Nebraska item in Monday's edition of USA Today, America's most circulated newspaper.

The article, contributed by the McCook Daily Gazette and distributed by the Associated Press, has also appeared in a number of other leading newspapers, including this morning's edition of the Omaha World-Herald.

What's generating the interest? It is a thought-provoking and possibly world-changing proposal from the Central North American Trade Corridor Association.

The group, represented in McCook by Ted Tietjen of Grant, is pushing the idea of a transportation system which would stretch from Mexico, through the central United States, into Canada and across the Bering Strait into the Asian continent.

A big idea? You bet it is. Tremendously big. But that doesn't mean it's not practical and potentially of great value to this area, this nation, this continent, and -- in an even larger context -- this world.

As explained by Tietjen, the trade corridor would not only relieve traffic around major population centers, but could also play an important role in homeland security and save transport carriers 300 miles between the Canadian and Mexican borders.

From the standpoint of McCook, Oberlin and the surrounding region, the trade corridor idea is exciting because it would follow the route of U.S. Highway 83 from Texas, through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota before passing into Canada and points to the north and west.

As a step in the direction of the Central North American Trade Corridor, McCook Mayor Jerda Garey and Transportation Task Force Member Linda Taylor are urging the state to consider expanding U.S. Highway 83 from a two-lane to four-lane highway between McCook and North Platte in hopes that the route eventually could develop into an expressway from Interstate 70 in Kansas to Interstate 80 at North Platte.

The possibilities are tremendous. As with all revolutionary changes, it will take immense effort, tremendous cooperation and many years to turn the idea into reality.

The mayor summed it up when she said, "Think futuristic, thing big and help us revitalize Southwest Nebraska." And, the great thing is, in the process we would be helping the world create an intercontinental trade corridor.