Iowa’s Transportation Day in Des Moines is tomorrow.

Greene County Economic Development Director Ken Paxton will be representing the county’s position on the Highway 30 Coalition and will be engaging with legislators about making Highway 30 a four-lane road through the county.

He says discussions about making it a four-lane have been going on for years and that it continues to be a tough sale because the Department of Transportation has an agenda and only allows funding for certain projects and Highway 30 has never been too high on its priority list.

However, his opinion is that its not essential for Highway 30 to become a four-lane highway right away because his research shows that won’t stop them from economic growth.

“I think it would be an enormous asset for our county to have a four-lane highway going through it.  But at the same time, those site selectors are unanimous in saying we’re close enough to four-lane highways that it really isn’t a determinant to us attracting businesses.  The fact that Highway 30 is four-lane clear over to Ogden and we’re close to (Interstate) 35 and we’re close to (Interstate) 80, really makes us still accessible to a four-lane highway.”

His hoping that they can still make a presence to lawmakers and make a case that Highway 30 needs to be a four-lane road to aid in expansion of the communities in the county.