Editorials

There is splendid news to report. Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr. and members of the Alabama Legislature are in the road-buildin' mood. Folsom wants Goat Hill legislators of both parties to explore the viability of building a large-scale, multi-million dollar roadway that would ease congestion, facilitate travel, and economically revitalize part of the state.

There's just one problem.

Folsom's plan is for a north-south freeway in west Alabama that would connect Florence to Mobile and run roughly parallel to the Mississippi state line.

Nothing against the fine folks in west Alabama, but what about Calhoun County and eastern Alabama? What about the Eastern Parkway? Doesn't the road that this county must have fully completed rank as a top construction project in this state? Don't our interests rank as a priority in Montgomery?

Why is this state's leadership — the governor, our legislators, those we send to D.C. — not banging the drum for the parkway as loudly as Folsom is for this proposed west Alabama freeway?

Think of it this way: The lieutenant governor is trying to build a 300-mile freeway from one end of the state to the other, and our county can't finish paying for a seven-mile parkway that's been in construction since 2001?

Let's be clear. This is no insinuation that Folsom's idea doesn't have merit. He campaigned on the issue in 2006, and last week he managed to get 17 Demo-cratic and Republican legislators to attend a press conference announcing his desires. Smartly, he's even been willing to push for public and private financing, a method Gov. Bob Riley has backed for the state's road projects.

There seems little doubt that such a road would offer better access to Alabama's growing coast and its expanding industries. That the freeway could also spur job growth in parts of west Alabama that sorely need it should not be ignored.

What Calhoun County and eastern Alabama need is their version of Jim Folsom Jr. — an influential elected official who will stand before us and deliver in-depth plans for fully funding the parkway's construction. Today, that high-ranking leadership is lacking.

When was the last time Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Anniston, publicly discussed aggressive plans for finding additional money for this county's project? Why isn't there a coalition of legislators in eastern Alabama willing to help our parkway and kick start the redevelopment of McClellan? The projects need coalitions across party lines and county lines working in concert, not excuses.

The Eastern Parkway sits unfinished, needing millions upon millions for its completion. Those here can do only so much. It will be a sad, sad day if west Alabama gets its north-south freeway before east Alabama sees its parkway finished end-to-end.

If that's the case, it'll show what leadership — or the lack of it — can really do.