BROADWAY PLAN POSED

The latest plans for Broadway call for a slightly wider street with four lanes for traffic from Clark to Perry Avenue, new storm sewer inlets, one new traffic light, upgraded computerized traffic signals and sidewalks.

Engineers put the latest design on display Thursday night at the Osage Center, and several dozen business owners showed up to comment. Its estimated cost is just over $1 million.

All wanted some improvements but some didn't want it widened.

Dr. Pat Ruopp, a dentist whose office is on Broadway between Penny and Sunset, said widening Broadway would cause cars to drive faster. "With my patients coming down Broadway and having to make a left-hand turn, that's going to make it more dangerous," said Ruopp.

Another dentist, Dr. David Crowe, whose office is one block east of Ruopp's, said several police officers told him widening Broadway would turn it into a "raceway." He fears that teen-agers who now cruise Broadway would "reach 50 miles per hour at Broadway and Caruthers because they can drive side-by-side."

Crowe said conditions have changed since 1995 when voters passed the transportation sales tax that included plans for widening Broadway.

"In a year or two Notre Dame High School won't be there anymore," Crowe said. Long-range plans call for moving Cape Girardeau Central away as well, he said.

When the City Council put the tax before voters, it included a list of projects to be done with the revenue. Council members have been reluctant to deviate from the list because it was a promise they made to the voters.

Councilman Melvin Gateley, who was at the meeting Thursday, said he thought the mandate was more for improving Broadway than widening it.

City Engineer Mark Lester said it is hard to project the future. Both high schools could be replaced with buildings that generate even more traffic. "At worst, we'll have a nice-looking street that's a little too wide," he said.

Lester did say that the design displayed was not final, and that the city wants more feedback so it can refine the plan.

The plan as it stands calls for a traffic signal at Clark Avenue and Broadway. The new traffic signals would be computerized and could "talk to each other," said Steve Ketchum, an engineer with Black and Veatch, the consulting firm designing the intersection. He said the signals could be programmed to respond to changing traffic conditions to ensure a smoother flow of traffic.

Plans include sensor loops on the side streets to make sure that the light only turns red on Broadway when someone needs to get across, Ketchum said, but there are no plans for sensors on Broadway.

Broadway would be four lanes across with no parking allowed. It would be five lanes near the intersection with Caruthers Avenue to allow for left-turn-only lanes, Ketchum said.

Lester said the city needs to acquire right of way before it can begin construction.

Ketchum said the earliest construction could begin would be spring 1998, with completion in the fall. He said there would be an effort to close only one lane at a time to minimize disruption.