Another section of Broadway to close for the latest of downtown projects

Drivers who regularly travel on Broadway to get to and from downtown Cape Girardeau should expect to take a slightly different route for a while.

The city of Cape Girardeau announced Wednesday that Broadway will be closed between Lorimier and Fountain streets for the next two weeks to accommodate work on the exterior of the Marquette Tower.

According to Andrew Stone, traffic operations manager for the city, a contractor will be painting and cleaning windows at the top levels on the Marquette Tower. The equipment needed to reach the top floors is so large, it will not fit on the sidewalk, so closing the street is necessary.

The Marquette Tower improvements coincide with other projects taking place downtown, in particular Perkins Contracting’s efforts to rebuild manholes for AT&T, which began Monday and is expected to be completed in three to four weeks. The manhole repairs have caused a partial closing of Broadway between Lorimier and Spanish streets, with the road available only for local traffic.

Further east on Broadway, renovations on the Buckner-Ragsdale building have closed the sidewalk, diverting foot traffic to the other side of Broadway.

Earlier this month, the city replaced 1,000 feet of railroad track and 600 feet of drain pipe along the floodwall.

Deputy city manager Molly Hood said the timing of the work on the Marquette Tower and AT&T’s repairs is not a coincidence.

When Boulder Construction saw there was traffic control for AT&T, the company thought it was an opportune time to do its work as well, she said.

“The city agreed and absolutely thought it was in everyone’s best interest to just do one closure for two weeks,” Hood said, “rather than separating those projects out and making everyone’s lives miserable for extra long.”

Hood said there are no other projects foreseen that could create further detours or closings around the area.

The contracted work on the Marquette Tower will begin today and is expected to take two weeks to complete, weather permitting.

According to the city, contractors were instructed to notify businesses in the affected area of the closings.

Detours will be set up around the block south on Fountain to Themis Street. From there, traffic will travel to Lorimier, then back to Broadway.

bbrown@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630