James Baughn was the webmaster of seMissourian.com and its sister newspapers for 20 years. On the side, he maintained even more sites, including Bridgehunter.com, LandmarkHunter.com, TheCapeRock.com, and Humorix. Baughn passed away in 2020 while doing one of the things he loved most: hiking in Southeast Missouri. Here is an archive of his writing about hiking and nature in our area.

Let the de-beautification begin on Bloomfield Road

Posted Tuesday, May 31, 2011, at 11:37 AM

We've reached the next phase in converting Bloomfield Road from a scenic tree-lined parkway into a boring concrete-encrusted highway.

It's a dubious moment in Cape Girardeau history, the latest chapter in a long series of projects, all in the name of "progress", that have had the effect of de-beautifying the city. Let's look at the scorecard over the last few decades:

Cape Rock Drive? Not nearly as interesting now that Snake Hill has been defanged.

Mount Auburn Road? What was once billed as a scenic drive is now a four-lane raceway.

Ten Mile Rose Garden? Gone.

Mount Tabor Park? Eliminated, all because of short-sighted fears that teenagers were having too much fun.

Wedekind Park? Removed.

Doggett Park? Never developed.

There's plenty of blame to go around. The city, county, state, special road district, and others have all worked together to transform the "City of Roses" into the "City of Commuters Desperate To Get To Work 30 Seconds Faster."

In the case of Bloomfield Road, I've long advocated building a bypass that connects with the new Highway 74 interchange. This would provide a solution to the ever-increasing traffic on that side of town, while preserving the character of Bloomfield Road. There's nothing wrong with commuters wanting to get to work 30 seconds faster, but let's be smart about it.

I suspect that the city will end up building a bypass in the next decade or two, but by then it will be too late to save the old road. Even after Bloomfield Road is widened and improved, it will likely remain as a congested choke point for the west side of town (although the completion of Nash Road will hopefully provide some relief).

At a recent public meeting on the project, representatives from the city were quick to point out that the current phase will produce a road that is 28 feet wide instead of 32 feet, the width of the previous section by Campster School. The idea is to reduce the number of trees that are wiped out.

After taking a drive along the road and seeing all of the doomed trees sprayed with Xs, it's hard to see how the change in design will make any difference. It's the kind of compromise that will fail to please either side. Those who want to keep the old road are still going to be upset, while those who want a modern highway will be upset that the road isn't modern enough.

While it's not possible to stop the current phase of construction (stretching from Stonebridge Drive west to Benton Hill Road), the next phase is still on the drawing board. This represents the most important part of Bloomfield Road, including the historic spring and the Elmwood estate.

It won't be easy, but I think the case could be made that this stretch qualifies for the National Register of Historic Places as an historic district, including the road and some of the sites along the road. The area could then be nominated as one of Missouri's Most Endangered Historic Sites.

That wouldn't be enough to legally stop further construction, but it might be enough to cause the city fathers to rethink this whole boondoggle.

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Thanks for picking up all my links. It seems like everything I've written recently is about the disappearance of another landmark that makes Cape special.

I'd like to think it would be possible to save the last portion of Bloomfield Rd., but there will be much pressure to widen it to match the rest of the road.

It'll be Mount Auburnized in a decade.

-- Posted by ksteinhoff on Tue, May 31, 2011, at 12:44 PM
...all in the name of "Progress"...

what a shame...

-- Posted by Rick* on Tue, May 31, 2011, at 12:48 PM
"Asphalt Acres", for sure.(You really should put that-tag on a bronze-plate, JAMES!)

Cut 'em down, pave it, concrete it, and develop it---and in the end, name a subdivision for what was once there.

Sorry to come-off sounding like a dyed-in-the-wool "tree-hugger".

But it always seems to come-down to the same thing: The FUTURE-RESALE VALUE, of the involved-housing, instead of any "human", or aesthetic-appeal.

"...all in the name of PROGRESS...", indeed, RICK. It's all about being "a good-investment"...

-- Posted by donknome-2 on Tue, May 31, 2011, at 1:20 PM
Those who think dollars speak with less distortion than political words will find the mayor's revelations on Parks & Recreation projects in a recent column bring the council and manager's concepts of what's important into focus.

http://www.semissourian.com/story/1725926.html

-- Posted by semowasp on Tue, May 31, 2011, at 5:43 PM
James, we've been wondering, in Ken's blogs, what the accident rate is for Bloomfield Road. Do you have any idea where we could find that figure? I thought I saw it in one of your old blogs, but I haven't found it yet.

-- Posted by goat lady on Tue, May 31, 2011, at 9:22 PM
If this is such an important road that it has to be improved for saftey and traffic flow, why then can it be shut down for such a time needed to improve it?

-- Posted by Old John on Wed, Jun 1, 2011, at 1:05 AM
The engineers and city, (redundant?), have to be held accountable for any road improvements...so the engineers design for safety, (speed/horiz/vert curves, etc.), not beauty...although we all know beauty is in the eye of the beholder...and we also all know that engineers think of all their projects as things of beauty.

So there you are. Makes about as much sense as the tree removals don't it?

-- Posted by Hawker on Wed, Jun 1, 2011, at 9:30 AM
IMHO, even $5/gal. gas doesn't justify tearing up an historic byway such as Bloomfield Road. I have driven the road going home to Dexter from Cape in all climatic conditions, and have found it always to be a rewarding journey. Surely, everyone knows that speed idiots cannot be cured, and stupidity should not breed........apply as seen fit to the powers that be.....for they shall not be cured or dis-swayed(sic)from their tilting ways, molater, kkr

-- Posted by kkcaver47 on Wed, Jun 1, 2011, at 1:50 PM
As someone that drives Bloomfield road daily, I can say that this closure is going to put a serious cramp in my daily commute. However, the removal of SOME of the trees is necessary whether they redo the road or not. Some of the trees are mere inches away from the road and are a constant hazard in rainy, snowy, icy weather. Not to mention the branches (and whole trees) that land in the road during our frequent storms.

Personally, I don't feel that the road needs to be any wider or faster, or have gutters and sidewalks. Just smooth and repave the existing road, cut back the necessary trees for safe travel, and that's it. It would be nice to drive this road without fear of seriously damaging a vehicle on the many poorly patched potholes. Of course, the same thing can be said for HWY 25.

-- Posted by farmwife2 on Wed, Jun 1, 2011, at 2:35 PM
Me thinks that the pressure on Bloomfield Road will be reduced when the new MO 25 / Nash Road project will be finished. Most of the traffic from south and west of Blomeyer will probably use the new road as it will be.... FASTER!

-- Posted by Hugh M Bean on Wed, Jun 1, 2011, at 3:50 PM
Goat lady: The only thing I've been able to find on the accident statistics is this story from last year which said, "A Missouri State Highway Patrol study of accidents between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2008, found that 75 accidents occurred on the road."

http://www.semissourian.com/story/1612002.html

Keep in mind that part of Bloomfield Road is outside the city limits, so those wrecks wouldn't appear in the Cape police reports.

-- Posted by James Baughn on Wed, Jun 1, 2011, at 4:59 PM
I hope once the out of towners find out the road is closed, traffic will thin down some on 206.

Every kind of vehicle driven by every kind of mobile device carrying every kind of "oh no, I'm going to be late!" are learning the detour route.

-- Posted by Old John on Wed, Jun 1, 2011, at 5:38 PM
There are no signs on 74 saying that the road is closed. When I was coming back from Advance today, a lot of cars were turning on to Bloomfield.

-- Posted by Solelicious on Thu, Jun 2, 2011, at 7:48 PM

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