Road Connection team crosses finish line

“Where will future highway funds come from?” That was the question of the day as KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens brought their year-long nationwide “Road Connection” campaign to a close at the Road Connection Wrap-Up Rally held at the company’s Yankton, S.D., facility. During the campaign, KPI-JCI Advertising Manager Curt Peterka and Performance Marketing’s Andrew Gillman covered 39 states, traveling more than 35,000 miles to reach half a million consumers with their message about the importance of adequate highway funding.

In his comments to rally attendees, Joe Vig, group vice president of KPI-JCI, noted that the work done to organize the Road Connection campaign was “phenomenal. The highway bill is important to KPI-JCI and to everyone in our community,” he went on to say. “It impacts everyone in the nation. We need to continue to look at ways to fund future highway bills.”

Educating the public
The Road Connection’s purpose was to help make the public aware that the nation’s 4 million miles of roads and approximately 594,000 bridges require ongoing sufficient funding for necessary maintenance and upgrades. Among the resources available on www.theroadconnection.org is a document stating that the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission has concluded that, over the next 50 years, the government needs to invest at least $225 billion annually to bring the nation’s transportation system up to a reasonable level, adding it would take $2 trillion over the next five years to bring national roadways to “good” condition. This year’s highway legislation, committing $105 billion to road and bridge work, falls far short of that figure.

“We’ve had events all across the U.S.,” said Lisa Carson, KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens marketing manager and central Road Connection organizer. “We attended trade shows, lobbied Congress and visited Washington, D.C. Today we’re celebrating not just the Road Connection and KPI-JCI but the spirit of America. Hopefully, through all these activities, we all can see that roads matter not only to us as an industry, but to each of us as consumers and drivers.”

Other event speakers included South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard and other regional government representatives.

No Road Connection activities are currently planned for 2013, however, the Road Connection truck will be held in reserve for a possible revival in 2014.