Cape to widen section of recreational trail

A heavily used section of Cape LaCroix Trail will be widened, Cape Girardeau city officials said Wednesday.

Cyclist Don Hinkebein, shop manager at Cape Bicycle & Fitness, welcomed the news.

He said the existing trail often is crowded with walkers and bicyclists.

"Two people walking side by side pretty much fills the trail," he said.

Widening the trail would improve safety and make it easier for pedestrians and bicyclists to pass, he said.

While other sections of the trail need to be widened, too, Hinkebein said he and other trail uses will "take whatever we can."

This project will widen the trail from its existing 8 feet to 10 feet from East Rodney Drive to Hopper Road, city engineer Casey Brunke said.

The work is scheduled to start by the end of the month.

The contractor has nine months to finish the work, but Brunke said she expects the project to be completed in less time.

The project comes as the Southeast Metropolitan Planning Organization (SEMPO) prepares to hold two community workshops about plans for a regional bicycling and pedestrian network.

Both workshops will be held next Wednesday, the first from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Osage Centre in Cape Girardeau and the second from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Jackson Civic Center, organizers said.

SEMPO is a federally mandated and funded policy-making organization that oversees transportation planning for the Cape Girardeau and Jackson region.

Representatives of the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson and other local governmental and regional entities participate in the planning effort.

A consultant has been hired at a cost of $50,000 to help develop the bicycling and pedestrian plan, Cape Girardeau city planner Ryan Shrimplin said.

Federal dollars will pay 80 percent of the cost, with local entities paying the other 20 percent of the cost.

As for the Cape LaCroix Trail project, the Cape Girardeau City Council awarded the more than $255,000 contract to ASA Asphalt Inc. in May. The company submitted the low base bid, Brunke said.

Revenue from Cape Girardeau's parks and recreation and stormwater sales tax and the casino fund will pay for the project, city officials said.

Brunke said the city considered widening two other sections -- one from Hopper Road to Kingshighway and the other from Independence Street to East Rodney. But city officials said they do not have the funding to do those sections at this time.

If voters extend the parks and stormwater tax next year, the city may widen other sections of the trail, officials said.

Brunke said when it comes to trails today, "wider is better."

Parks and recreation director Julia Thompson said parts of the more than six-mile-long trail through the city were opened 24 years ago. Trail sections were completed in 1993, 1996, 2000 and 2012, she said.

Thompson said the trail's width never met recreation standards. Ten feet is the "absolute minimum" width recommended for trails, she said.

The trail needs to be wide enough to allow for two people walking side by side to pass another pair of people walking in the other direction, she said.

Thompson said the trail is "one of the more popular park amenities."

Brunke said the project involves some storm drainage work. Most of the trail construction involves asphalt pavement, although there will be some concrete work, she said.

"This is a really mixed bag," she said.

Thompson said widening the trail involves a lot of work.

"It is like building a road," she said.

City officials said every effort will be made to keep the project section of the trail open as much as possible during construction.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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