Dear Editor,
If you live on Highway D….Have you ever come home late after a Cardinals or Mizzou game and saw people walking along Highway D? I never recognize them, but yet there’s always someone walking late at night past my and your house while our children are sleeping.
The river access at Sappington Bridge happens to be five miles from town and out of the city limits. In fact, everyone knows that most of Highway D is in Crawford County, especially minors who want to drink.
Along with underage drinking and driving on Highway D is the large commercial and recreational vehicles that take more of the road than they should. I’ve hit the ditch twice since summer began. The buses with people towing rafts and canoes fly along the narrow part of Highway D; along with the buses are the logging trucks and dump trucks.
Although the speed limit is set at 55 mph at the straightest part of Highway D, there is no possible way to do that on the narrowest part of Highway D with these large vehicles and a family vehicle passing side by side.
Although this is technically not a City of Sullivan concern, the events that happen on Highway D and Sappington Bridge access can and will affect the citizens of the city of Sullivan. You either know someone that lives on Highway D or are related to them, or maybe you even work with them.
My family and I were nearly killed last week in a head-on collision by an alleged drunk driver with five other people in his car. We appreciate that the City of Sullivan police were the first to arrive on the scene, even though it is out of their jurisdiction. Their continued support of monitoring traffic on Highway D within the city limits is appreciated by concerned residents along Highway D.
But, what if my family had died? This is how it could have affected the city of Sullivan.
Ace Manufacturing plant may have been put up for sale. The 100 employees would have no jobs. The money that Ace pays toward electric, water, taxes, etc. would cease. All of this in the city of Sullivan.
If you live on Highway D or if you live in Sullivan, we are all contributors to the city of Sullivan. We are already working with the Crawford County commissioner, John Hewkin, to lower the speed limit on the narrow stretches of Highway D. We are also working with Charlie Schlottach, State Representative, to analyze if this stretch of the road can be widened.
We appreciate any support from the citizens of Sullivan and its surrounding area. We hope you choose to stand with us and make Highway D safe for all families, mine and yours.
Kevin and Diana Ijames
Ace Manufacturing