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The most favorable development areas are located along the Mississippi River and extend in a finger-like pattern northward from the Mississippi River in the general vicinity of the Rum River. The central portion of the County is situated on a sand plain which is generally suited to development. The land is dotted with areas of high water table, poor soil conditions and wetlands, diminishing the development potential of specific areas. Much of the land is composed of sandy soils and requires extensive irrigation to support agricultural activities. Based on current agricultural activity patterns and the high land costs caused by development pressures, even for marginally developable land, it does not appear that agriculture will ever return to most areas of the County as a viable economic base. Areas of wetlands can be made to support urban development through the extensive redevelopment of the land or a lowering of the water table or both. However, costs for this type of development are high and the resulting disruption of the County's ecological system could be detri- mental. Therefore, the basic soil pattern of the County also serves as a real physical constraint to development. An analysis of development problems attributed to soil and high water table conditions indicates that at least 27% of the County is not readily adaptable for urban development except for scattered small site development. Furthermore, other factors can also be barriers to development. The existing transportation system which is composed of two major regional facilities diagonally traversing the southern reaches of the County, together with north-south 35E, have increased the regional accessibility of the County but have at the same time become man-made physical barriers to the continuity of the local road systems required to support urbanization. The diagonals have also created odd shaped pieces of land difficult to develop and service with arterial streets. Superimposed on the basic County grid system, these facilities have created difficult interchange development problems. While initially the development of interchanges with these diagonals and the existing system appeared reasonable, as the arterial grid within the County has intensified untenable situations at these interchange points have developed. In the "panhandle" area of the County, a basic grid pattern prevails where diagonal routes turn to fit the established pattern. The rapid urbanization of this portion of the County has precluded the develop- ment of any one of the three routes (T.H. 47, T.H. 65, East River Road) into a major limited access facility. To re-develop any of these routes would cause substantial community disruption. The constraints caused by the intensity of the existing development are as real as the physical constraints caused by the Mississippi River. 17