The Gering city council has decided to place approximately $5,000 in funds with the Heartland Expressway and Ports to Plains Coalitions rather than a state coalition that promotes highway construction in the state.

The council made the decision Monday night after Mayor Susan Wiedeman indicated a conversation she had with the coalition's lobbyist Walt Radcliffe at a legislative hearing in Scottsbluff didn't give her the feeling he had a positive attitude about the future of the Heartland Expressway.

Wiedeman says she and the council feel supporting the lobbying effort on the federal level by Ports to Plains is a better expenditure of the city's money.

The Ports to Plains Coalition heavily promotes a four lane highway from the Mexico border to Canada that would include the Heartland Expressway.