CAPE CITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES MOUNT AUBURN STRIPES

The city's planning commission favors widening Mount Auburn Road to five lanes of traffic, including a center turn lane, but the project would have cost too much money to be considered as part of the Transportation Trust Fund, said Charles Haubold, planning and zoning chairman.

Haubold responded to questions raised by Councilman Richard "Butch" Eggimann during a study session Tuesday afternoon at City Hall.

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce also supports adding a center turn lane on Mount Auburn road and creating four lanes for travel since the road offers a major link to the city's business district.

However, the expense of such a project made it somewhat prohibitive for the upcoming Transportation Trust Fund 2 projects, Haubold said.

Cape Girardeau voters first approved a half-cent sales tax in 1995; all the revenue generated from the tax is used to pay for road improvement projects. Last month, voters agreed to extend the project another five years to pay for 13 more improvement projects.

Widening Mount Auburn Road to five lanes, including a center turn lane made the top of an alternate projects list compiled by the city's Planning and Zoning Commission.

In the meantime, the city plans to stripe Mount Auburn Road for four lanes of traffic from its intersection at Independence north to Kingshighway. The planning commission made that recommendation to the council last month.

But the work likely won't get done until the intersection at Independence is rebuilt and some construction work related to a lane-widening project is completed, said Mayor Al Spradling III.

And residents living in the area must be notified of a change in parking. Once the road is striped for four lanes of traffic, there will be no on-street parking allowed. The council plans to give residents 60-days notice before the change takes effect, Spradling said

The city currently plans to widen Mount Auburn Road from Independence south to William Street and Route K under the existing Transportation Trust Fund program. That section of road is already striped for four lanes of traffic, but the widening should make each of the lanes 12-feet-wide.

Part of the traffic delays at Mount Auburn Road and Independence will likely be eliminate once a traffic signal is in operation, said City Manager Michael Miller.