Commission awards Silver Springs Road contract

The state highway commission awarded a $1 million contract Wednesday to Lappe Cement Finishing Inc. of Perryville, Mo., to construct a new Silver Springs Road intersection at South Kingshighway and add traffic signals. But it's the city of Cape Girardeau that will pay the bulk of the cost.

The city will pay nearly 80 percent of the cost with the state picking up the rest of the expense, said Melanie Gertis, assistant city engineer.

Cape Girardeau will use transportation sales tax money to pay its share of the cost, city manager Doug Leslie said.

The city's share of the cost ballooned because of drainage improvements added to the project and increased construction costs, city and Missouri Department of Transportation officials said.

Estimates a year ago this month put the cost at $465,000, which would have been split 50-50.

But the state's share always was limited to an amount, not a percentage, MoDOT project manager Eric Krapf said.

Krapf, who works in the Sikeston office, said the cost-sharing agreement limited state spending on the project to about $220,000.

Construction could begin as early as March, said MoDOT resident engineer Bob Wilson. The project should be completed by late 2005, he said.

The new intersection, which will include left-turn lanes, will be built about 200 feet south of where the old Silver Springs Road ended at busy South Kingshighway.

Krapf said the construction work will lead to some lane closures at times, but busy Kingshighway won't be entirely closed. "We will maintain a lane of traffic in each direction at all times," he said.

The new intersection will tie into old U.S. 61 just east of Kingshighway, officials said.

MoDOT scrapped plans to close a South Kingshighway entrance to an outer road that serves about a dozen homes and businesses after residents in that area said that would be a major inconvenience.

City and state officials said the project is designed to improve traffic flow and traffic safety and provide an additional travel route to and from Central High School and the Career and Technology Center.

In other commission action Wednesday, Apex Paving of Cape Girardeau and Bross Construction of Hannibal were awarded a $12.9 million contract for resurfacing work along nearly 12 miles of Interstate 55 in New Madrid and Pemiscot counties.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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