Construction to begin soon on Brookwood Drive

Cape Girardeau Public Works officials are moving forward with projects to improve drainage along Sherwood and Brookwood drives.

The work on the Sherwood portion of the project is scheduled to be complete by the first week of September. Public Works officials will then start working on drainage improvements on Brookwood.

Upon the start of construction, Brookwood Drive will be closed at Masters Drive near Dennis Scivally Park. Motorists using this street will be directed to use local detours.

The construction for the Sherwood project started at the end of May.

According to Brock Davis, assistant Public Works director, the plan had been to start with Brookwood Drive. However, there were two electrical poles that had to come down before construction could begin. Ameren officials then discovered the poles were feeding power to a transformer for several homeowners. Because of this electrical issue, Public Works officials decided to change plans and start the construction at Sherwood Drive first.

This project involves replacing the existing drainage structures on Brookwood near Masters Drive and on Sherwood near Westwood Drive with larger structures to accommodate more flow and reduce local street and yard flooding.

"The city is growing, and we are getting big storms. It's (the existing culverts) not getting rid of the water fast enough. That's why we are doing the culvert enhancement. We are making those bigger so they accept more water," Davis said.

The contract amount for this project is $660,754 and is funded through Parks and Recreation Stormwater tax initiative (PRS2). The initiative was approved by voters in 2018.

The contractor is Fronabarger Concreters.

The Sherwood/Brookwood Drainage Improvement project is part of a larger program, Lisa Branch Watershed. The program involves drainage structure enhancement in six locations:

• Brookwood at Masters;
• Sherwood near Westwood Drive;
• Westwood Drive near Sherwood;
• Glenridge Drive;
• Melrose Avenue near Randol Drive;
• Lisa Drive near Randol Drive.

According to City of Cape Girardeau's website, the aforementioned neighborhoods have experienced street and yard flooding for several years. Earlier drainage improvement projects accomplished some reduction in the severity of the flooding, but there is still improvement to be made.

The remaining four projects are in the design phase and city officials will start implementing the enhancements once the Brookwood project is finished.

The whole program is estimated to cost $1.8 million and will be funded through PRS2 tax initiative.