BRIDGE ROUTE EXIT PLANNED

A downtown exit off the new Mississippi River bridge figures into planning for Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus.

A preliminary design calls for construction of a new road that would extend north from the bridge highway to Morgan Oak.

The university wants the road built along the west side of the old St. Vincent's Seminary property. Southeast plans to spend $35.6 million to develop the seminary property into a school for the visual and performing arts.

Just a few years ago, Cape Girardeau city officials had talked of extending Lorimier Street to connect with the new bridge route.

The River Campus is just to the north of the bridge route.

The current design for the River Campus calls for building the new connecting street to the west, just east of the old railroad bed.

"We wanted to push it a little west of the old alignment," said Al Stoverink, facilities management director for the university. The new alignment wouldn't divide the property, he said.

University officials plan to seek the endorsement of the city's Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council over the next two months. City approval is needed to set the alignment of the road.

Stoverink said the new road would become the main artery from the new bridge route to downtown.

The main entrance to the River Campus would be on Morgan Oak at the current entrance to the seminary site. But plans drawn up by Sverdrup, a St. Louis architectural firm, show a service entrance to the River Campus from the proposed downtown street.

It could be used as a second entrance when theater performances and other events are held on the River Campus, the architects said.

The River Campus would have about 400 parking spaces. Stoverink said the architects have indicated that should be sufficient parking for students and the general public.

The new street is a key part of the proposed development, Stoverink said. It would carry traffic to Morgan Oak, which would dead end at the river after the new bridge opens.

The Missouri Department of Transportation plans to remove the old bridge, which connects to Morgan Oak. But the street would remain a connecting point to the River Campus.

In addition to providing access to the main entrance to the River Campus, it also might carry traffic to the park-like area that the university plans to develop on the east side of the property, Stoverink said.