Cape Girardeau hosts state highways commission

Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, a panel that includes Commissioner W. Dustin Boatwright of Kelso, Missouri, held its monthly meeting Wednesday, Nov. 2, at Drury Plaza Hotel Conference Center in Cape Girardeau.

Commissioners heard about a variety of projects underway in Southeast Missouri.

Stacy Kinder

Cape Girardeau Mayor Stacy Kinder told the six-member board city residents comment on road conditions on a regular basis.

"We are a community that values our infrastructure. City government has been told repeatedly by our citizens they expect well-planned and well-maintained avenues of transportation, whether it is in the defeat of every single pothole or in appreciating the most efficient use of tax dollars to keep our main arteries throughout the city humming along during rush hour," said Kinder, elected to the mayoralty in April.

"Time and time again, our citizens have supported tax initiatives and massive spending projects to ensure our highways, city roads, sidewalks, drainage systems and our airport are serving the public well."

Airport

Katrina Amos

Katrina Amos, manager of city-owned Cape Girardeau Regional Airport in northern Scott County, advised the commission about three ongoing projects.

• Taxiway B reconstruction: A $5.2 million project necessitated by "longitudinal cracking" throughout the taxiway's center. Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act federal monies are slated to pay for the entire work.
• New 20,000-square-foot passenger terminal: Project to begin in spring 2023 and finished by June 2024 with $8 million in CARES Act money used as partial funding with $4 million from other sources. The current terminal was built in 1953 and rehabilitated in 1992 "but no longer meets the needs of passengers and the community."
• T-hangar improvements and additions: There are 73 aircraft based at the airport and the work — funded by the CARES Act and local sources — will free up space in larger "community" hangars for larger aircraft. Amos said the airport will solicit requests for proposals for the job next week.

"I like to call these three 'legacy' projects because these are setting us up for future growth," Amos said.

Other input

Brent Buerck

• Alex McElroy of Southeast Metropolitan Planning Organization (SEMPO) discussed Interstate 55 at Exit 93 interchange project, expected to cost between $23 million and $27 million.
• Brent Buerck, Perryville, Missouri's city administrator, discussed, among other projects, the Chester Bridge replacement project, highlighting for the panel the importance of the span to the commuting needs of workers employed by TG Missouri and Gilster-Mary Lee.

Missouri Department of Transportation expects to select a design-build team for the new bridge in March, with work to begin shortly afterward and completion projected in 2026.

Chester Bridge, a continuing truss span connecting Perryville to Chester, Illinois, over the Mississippi River, was originally built in 1942.

While considered still safe for travel, MoDOT has judged the bridge to be in poor condition.