I read your recent article "County greasing skids for new development" with great interest. I'm still not clear on all the hows and whys for a proposed Rieder Road exit off Interstate 64, but it's inappropriate to tie Scott Air Force Base's needs as a justification for this exit.

As reported in the article, Scott is planning to make upgrades to its Cardinal Creek gate but that military construction project has been on the books for years and has more to do with tenant increases and needs on base than access issues off it. Access to this gate via Air Mobility Drive and Wherry Road is adequate with the only choke point being current limitations at the gate itself.

It reminds me of a line from the movie, "Field of Dreams": Build it and they will come. Is that the smart way to justify this major construction project?

Just like in the movie, the plan seems to be to tear up a bunch of corn fields, furiously build and hope to attract "players." Shouldn't the first question be, "We need an exit at Rieder Road here because?"

This sounds like the same methodology used to build MidAmerica and look how that turned out.

Bill Malec

O'Fallon