OLD PLAN FOR NEW INTERSECTION

High bids and resident complaints about design plans stalled the New Madrid-Henderson Street realignment next to the new business building on the Southeast Missouri State University campus. But attention has turned to a 10-year-old plan drawn by a former city engineer that would make the intersection a four-way stop.

It is ironic that the best solution may been in hand all along. This heavily traveled, confusing intersection needs simplification, not further complication.

Of course that may mean that an expensive consulting fee was for naught. So what? It is better to throw out a bad plan now than to proceed and find the finished project only worsens the intersection.

The 10-year-old plan needs careful consideration by the Planning and Zoning Commission, university officials and landowners. But a four-way stop seems a good way to regulate a better traffic flow at that location. It also might be something that can be done during the school year, since major construction would be avoided.

If the four-way stop proves insufficient down the road, then more expensive alternatives can be embraced. It seems a good start to fix a hazardous intersection that will become more crowded with the opening of the new College of Business this fall.