I-55 Oak Ridge interchange opens

Business Today

OAK RIDGE --An Interstate 55 interchange two miles from this small Cape Girardeau County town opened in mid-October.

The Missouri Department of Transportation opened the Oak Ridge interchange on Route E. The state-funded project cost more than $2.38 million. Construction work began last fall.

Oak Ridge school officials have long wanted an interchange, contending it would cut driving time for school buses and allow for quicker response from emergency vehicles. Prior to the opening of the interchange, motorists had to travel through Fruitland or Jackson to get to Oak Ridge. The Oak Ridge exit is two miles from the school.

Scott Meyer, MoDOT district engineer in Sikeston, said the new interchange could ease traffic congestion in the Fruitland area.

Meyer said it also fulfills a commitment made by the state years ago to build the Route E interchange. Oak Ridge Board of Trustees records show the interchange was in the original plan for I-55 in 1969 but wasn't built.

In 1995, the Cape Girardeau County Commission had to choose between the Oak Ridge interchange and a newly proposed interchange at East Main Street in Jackson.