CITY, SCHOOLS OFFER TO PAY FOR INTERSECTION SURVEY WORK

City and school officials in Cape Girardeau want to speed up an interchange redesign at Silver Springs Road and Kingshighway so they are going to pay for survey work that might help convince state highway officials about the necessity of the project.

The city agreed to spend nearly $14,000 for its portion of surveying costs to fund the work. The entire project costs $41,930, which is being split by the city, school district and property owner Earl Norman.

The intersection is maintained by the Missouri Department of Transportation, but the agency has no immediate plans for redesign work. The work is something they might do but it's not in their plans now, said City Manager Michael Miller.

Since the interchange is near the site of the Career and Technology Center and a new public high school, city and school officials want to reduce any possible accidents or traffic problems. The career center is slated to open next fall. The high school should open in 2002.

The property owner, school and city have been talking with MoDOT about the shape that intersection should take, said City Manager Michael Miller. "Hopefully this will be a step toward getting the state in better shape."

The ordinance authorizing the agreement was approved on first reading at Monday's council meeting.

Mayor Al Spradling III expects that MoDOT would pick up any of the costs incurred should it decide to reconstruct the interchange. No one from the MoDOT district office in Sikeston, Mo., was available for comment Thursday afternoon.