$777,472 PROJECT; PAVING, BRIDGE WORK AND INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENT FOR ROUTE K START SOON

New asphalt paving, bridge rehabilitation, and intersection improvements will get under way on Route K, between Interstate 55 at Cape Girardeau and Route 25 at Gordonville, in the near future.

"Work should start within the next couple of weeks," said Bob Wilson, resident engineer with the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department. "The contractors are awaiting word on the asphalt mix to be used."

Although the proposed improvements were announced two years ago, the official announcement that work will start came during a special ground-breaking ceremony, held at the intersection of Route K and Route 25 Friday morning. The ceremony was sponsored by the Cape Girardeau County Commission, Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, Girardeau Contractors, Inc., which is the primary contractor for the project.

Wilson explained: "Contractors recommend the asphalt mix, and the state tests the mix proposal to see if it will perform to its specifications," he said. "Testing is under way, but the results are not available at this time. We should have the results soon. It could be a week, or at the most, three weeks."

Contractors must be completed with the work by Oct. 1.

Sub contractors for the project are Penzel Construction of Jackson, D and S Fencing Co., of DeSoto, and Park-Mark Inc. of St. Louis.

The $777,472 project, funded through money furnished by the road and bridge replacement improvement program previously approved by Missouri voters, calls for resurfacing of 4.9 miles of the two-lane road, including shoulders; new bridge decking for one bridge, about two miles from the Route 25 intersection; and new left-turn lanes at the Route K-Highway 25 intersection, to allow motorists to make left turns from Highway 25 onto Route K.

Construction of the left-turn lane is designed to improve traffic safety said Wilson.

"When we got to the bridge work, there will be one-lane traffic," said Wilson. "But, we're hopeful that a new type of material for the decking will help minimize time for the one-way traffic."