Traveling eastbound on the new bridge

Business Today

Prior to the opening of the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, much was made of what the new $100 million span would mean to the region's economic future with the thousands of new people that would cross it in both directions.

Shouldn't Southern Illinois expect a boost from people traveling from Missouri to East Cape Girardeau and beyond?

"It sure can't hurt anything," said longtime East Cape Girardeau Mayor Joe Aden.

The bridge promises increased traffic of thousands of new drivers that will cross into Illinois every day. Currently, the Mississippi River bridge is used by 14,000 people a day. But the Missouri Department of Transportation predicts that by 2015 that number will increase to 26,000 a day.

Margie Foster-Stout opened her restaurant, Margie's, in East Cape before the new bridge was finished in December. On the Saturday the bridge opened, people were lined up outside her door, some of them people who had walked across the bridge after the opening ceremonies.

"When I first opened, I hardly could get anybody through the door," she said. "When the bridge opened, it's been nonstop."

It's the same across the highway at Karpet Korner.

"There's definitely been more people, starting from Dec. 13," said office manager Mary Martin. "I would say probably four out of 10 customers say they can finally come here -- that they never would have crossed the old bridge. It just seemed too unsafe.

Aden, the mayor, doesn't expect the bridge to change much Southern Illinois, which is one of the poorest regions of the state. East Cape Girardeau and other places in Southern Illinois are largely flood plain, which severely limits the development of new business.

Missouri Department of Transportation district engineer Scott Meyer says a little creative thinking might help businesses get around the flood plain issue.

"To me, and I'm no expert, it's right for some kind of industrial development," Meyer said. "You could raise a plant or something above the flood plain. I think it's open for a lot of things. It's really going to change the future, but it's hard to say how."

Aden said the bridge will mean a good deal to businesses that are already in East Cape Girardeau and says everyone is thrilled to have it. Others within the state say the importance of the bridge goes beyond its meaning to just one region and that any new transportation improvements are good for commerce statewide.

Illinois officials also say the new bridge could be a huge factor for economic improvement because it is one of the keys to getting the Interstate 66 project to come through Illinois. I-66 is a proposed coast-to-coast highway that would provide a faster route between Cape Girardeau and Paducah, Ky.

BT/Don Frazier

PIC -- Traffic heads east across the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge into Illinois. Existing businesses in East Cape Girardeau, Ill., are noticing a surge in business, but doubts remain whether more of Southern Illinois will prosper.