Cape starts '05 overlay program

Work began Thursday on an $834,000 project to fix problem areas and improve Cape Girardeau streets.

Workers with ASA Paving Co., the contractor that won the bid for the 2005 street overlay program, began milling and patching asphalt in the area of Arena Park. Patching and milling will be done before repaving, which will provide a 2-inch asphalt overlay on selected streets. The project also includes some curb and gutter repairs.

The biggest task in this year's overlay project will the addition of a turn lane at Cape Rock Drive and Kingshighway, said civil engineer John Hedrick.

Hedrick said traffic delays can be expected at the intersection when crews are working and in other areas when new pavement is applied. If all goes well, he said, the work should be done by the end of fall.

The overlay project is part of the Transportation Trust Fund, which was a half-cent sales tax approved in 1995 and extended in 2000. A vote on extending the TTF further is coming Aug. 2.

City inspectors and public works personnel inspect city streets each year and determine which ones need to be part of the overlay project.

Streets included in this year's project are: Fifth Street, Fourth Street, Industrial Drive, Luce Street, Pindwood Street, Hazel Street, Themis Street, Henderson Avenue, Themis Street, Penny Street, Sunset Boulevard, Delwin Street, Conservation Drive, Jaycee Drive, Kingsway Drive and Cape Rock Drive.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182