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Panel leaders hit road for ideas

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By Steven Martens | Tuesday, March 13, 2007 1:08 AM CDT | () comments

CLINTON, Iowa — Leaders of the Iowa Senate’s Transportation Committee want to know what Iowans think are the state’s most pressing transportation needs, and they’re hitting the road themselves to find out.

Committee chairman Sen. Tom Rielly, D-Oskaloosa, and ranking Republican Sen. Larry Noble, R-Ankeny, will visit 10 Iowa communities to host a bipartisan discussion of the state’s transportation needs.

The tour includes a stop in Clinton from 7:30-8:30 a.m. March 23 at the Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce, 721. S. 2nd St. Other communities on the tour are Fort Dodge, Johnston, Osceola, Missouri Valley, Correctionville, Toledo, Oskaloosa, Waterloo and Marion.

Rielly said to his knowledge, the tour is the first of its kind for his committee.

“We’re trying to get out from under the Capitol and get out and talk to our constituents about our transportation needs,” Rielly said.

A recent study by the Iowa Department of Transportation found that the current annual level of state funding for transportation falls about $200 million short of what is needed to maintain Iowa’s roads and complete new projects.

“Everyone needs to pull together because transportation issues are too important to get tangled up in Democratic and Republican politics,” Noble said in a news release. “We are asking everyone involved in transportation, including business groups, local leaders, road builders and the public, to come and help us work through some difficult, important decisions.”

Steven Martens can be contacted at (563) 659-2595 or smartens@qctimes.com.