(Letter to the Editor - Graphic Illustration/MetroCreativeConnection)

The West Virginia Legislature is considering our tremendous budget surplus and possible tax cuts. I believe that we need a modern and adequate highway system including a four lane Route 2 and possibly other highway projects, and including great schools, more than a tax cut. With this surplus we no longer need to be No. 48 or 50 in the United States in any worthwhile areas.

The Mid-Ohio Valley can become the Rhine Valley of the United States similar to the big industrial area of Germany. We have more advantages than any other area of the country and the only thing lacking is a developmental access highway — Route 2. Our advantages are:

* LOCATION: We are what is in reality the center of the major population areas which are to the North, East, South and West. We are close to the new chip factory being developed at Columbus.

* ENERGY: We have coal close by, oil, gas, electric, and according to the Gates-Manchin conference, additional electric capacity may be developed. Evidently, we have no problem with a grid system.

* TRANSPORTATION: We have river, rail and two major highways, Interstate 77 going north and south and U.S. 50 going east- west, but we need a four-lane developmental access highway, which is Route 2. It should extend from Chester to Huntington and connect Interstates 80 and 64. It appears to me from looking at a map that Ohio has a four-lane highway to the West Virginia border, and there is a West Virginia bridge crossing the Ohio River. If my interpretation of the map is correct, a four-lane Route 2 would create a four-lane highway from Youngstown, Ohio, to Huntington. It ideally would provide access to the new developments at Weirton, Ravenswood and Mason County. It would provide four-lane access to numerous industrial sites all along the Ohio river. There are airports at Wheeling, Parkersburg and Huntington. It is my opinion that the Parkersburg airport is not fully utilized.

* CLIMATE: We have a moderate climate with no problem will hurricanes and only very seldom a tornado. Flooding is no problem due to our flood walls and the location of plants and their construction.

The only possible area with such advantages for industrial development is the Gulf area. The Gulf does not have proximity to coal although coal is not in vogue today. It is susceptible to hurricanes and evidently has problems with the electric grid system. It is not near the large population centers. We need only a four-lane Route 2 and an aggressive promotion to really make the Ohio Valley, and particularly the Mid-Ohio Valley, the industrial area of the United States.

We need to use our resources, including our natural resources, to make our state really great. We must not fritter away this one opportunity with an unneeded tax cut!

Robert H. Friend

Vienna