Engineers are best suited to recommend whether particular streets and avenues mainly north and east of present Bismarck city limits are appropriate to become arterial traffic routes. Engineers don't write the newspaper, and the Tribune doesn't do civil engineering.

But an appropriate topic for editorial comment is the approach being taken to the future of the Bismarck-Mandan metro area.

People are looking ahead. It sounds so simple to say, but it's not that easy to accomplish. Planning ahead stretches people's imagination. That's good. People with foresight lead the rest of us, giving us our bearings.

Planning also costs money. Engineering consulting firms don't work for free. And the place to cut corners financially should not be planning, if it's to be of value to governing entities.

If it turns out there's need for a traffic beltway skirting Bismarck and Mandan, it would be in the distant future, to be completed maybe even 50 years from now. But portions of it could be useful to have as main traffic routes sooner than that.

Ulteig Engineering has been working with governing entities and with information from the public. As good engineers, they're presenting options. At this point it seems wise not to get stubbornly set on one choice and that choice only.

The beltway alternative analysis maps out factors involved in selecting 71st Avenue or 84th Avenue up north and 66th Street or 80th Street to the east. There are existing and possible future access points to be taken into account. The fewer intersections, the faster the motor vehicle traffic could move. There are wetlands, flood plains and bridges over watercourses to be considered; there are railroad tracks and an interstate highway affecting any plan.

The city of Lincoln has to be an important part of the vision for the traffic plan.

It's reassuring to hear that planners, engineers and government officials aren't stuck on thinking about what is, but are pondering what could be - 10 years into the future, 20 years and more than 20 years.

Who can foretell if in even 10 years we'll be as reliant on the vehicle carrying only a few passengers? The range of possibilities, including mass transit, have to be in the picture.

At this moment, those involved aren't giving their main attention to how much the various options might cost. That will come in due time.

Maybe we'll need to be sitting down for that development. One thing is sure: The cost will go up as time passes.

The matter lurking in the shadows is the notion of a north side bridge over the Missouri River.

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

More public comment will be sought in the summer. The plan is to have a plan in hand in late spring 2009. Reportedly, there will be plenty of work to do between now and then to keep those involved busy thinking ahead.