Cape zoning panel: Lack of money limiting TTF projects

Members of the Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission said Thursday that lack of money, not lack of need, will limit the improvements that can be made to Bloomfield Road in coming years.

The commission discussed the current city road-building program and the project list for a new round of taxation at its regular monthly meeting. As the meeting began, Transportation Subcommittee chairman Harry Rediger led a review of city projects that have rebuilt Bloomfield Road from Siemers Drive to Stonebridge Drive and that promise to take the work further.

The meeting was attended by three area residents, out of several who Rediger said have written the city recently urging speedy completion of a wider road to Highway 74. Barbara Rust described repeated accidents caused by high speed, especially during rainstorms, on the narrow asphalt pavement.

The city funds road improvements with a half-cent sales tax, called the Transportation Trust Fund, used for finance construction without incurring debt. With each election, the city presents a list of road projects.

Bloomfield Road is slated for work next year, with an estimated $1.5 million project to widen the road from Stonebridge Drive to Benton Hill Road.

The commission is looking at a final draft of a $21.25 million road plan that will be submitted to voters in August. That plan includes $3.4 million to continue the Bloomfield Road project past White Oaks Lane but not enough to reach Highway 74.

The work can't begin soon enough, Rust said. Drivers travel at high speeds and heavy traffic makes it difficult to leave subdivisions, she said. Rust added that improvements she once thought weren't needed must be made. "If this had come up five years ago, I would have fought you tooth and nail," she said.

There just isn't enough money to do all the needed projects, Rediger said. "There is nothing we would rather do than go all the way to 74," he said.

Rediger promised that the next phase of the road would be a priority if voters approve the tax, which would be known as TTF-4. And he said the election could hinge on whether the Bloomfield Road work, and a rebuilding and widening project for Big Bend Road, begin in the spring. "It is critical for voters to see something going on," he said.

The commission will vote on its recommended plan in December. The list will then go to the council for consideration. Some changes have been made to the previous project list, most notably shortening the section of West End Boulevard that will be rebuilt south of Highway 74 and scaling back the project to extend Walnut Street to West End Boulevard.

In other business, the commission appointed Scott Rhodes, Charles Haubold and chairman Bill Hinckley to a joint Cape Girardeau-Jackson committee to study subdivision rules for unincorporated areas.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

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401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO