CAPE CITY COUNCIL APPROVES SIX STREET IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

The Cape Girardeau City Council approved six separate projects for street improvements Monday as part of the Transportation Trust Fund.

Revenue for the Transportation Trust Fund is generated by a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 1995. The tax is set to expire in 2000.

The projects approved Monday involve:

* Widening Broadway from Perry to Clark avenues.

* Extending Hopper Road between Mount Auburn and Kage roads.

* Improving Kage Road from Mount Auburn to Hopper roads.

* Improving New Madrid Street from Perry to Henderson avenues.

* Improving Mount Auburn Road from Route 74 to Bloomfield Road.

* Improving Mount Auburn Road from Route 74 to Silver Springs Road.

Property easements for Broadway had already been donated to the city. Engineer's estimates and designs for the other five projects have not been completed.

The ordinances for the street improvements and extensions are needed so that public hearings can be set. It also allows the city to establish costs for right-of-way easements if that property must be purchased.

Public hearings on the projects have been set for Jan. 18.

There are still four or five Transportation Trust Fund projects left that need to be designed and brought before the council for approval, said City Engineer Mark Lester. Those projects will likely be ready for construction by mid-summer or early fall.

Work could start on New Madrid Street, Hopper, Kage and Mount Auburn roads as early as mid-January, Lester said.

The projects approved in the Transportation Trust Fund include widening the roadway and adding curbs and gutters to both sides.

Several of the streets to be improved, mostly those in residential areas, will get sidewalks as part of the project, Lester said. "We look at areas with more residential properties and a lot of pedestrian traffic."