Cape County Commission provides more information on speed limit changes

It was a quick meeting for the Cape Girardeau County Commission on Monday, June 17, with only a few agenda items to discuss.

Commissioners provided more information about a speed limit change planned for County Roads 330 and 335 southwest of Jackson. Instead of the current 60 miles per hour, speed limits there would be reduced to 40 miles per hour, with a maximum fine of $200 for infractions. The county’s Highway Department needs to erect signs showing where the new speed limit begins and ends.

The changes will take effect 15 days after a notice for adoption is published in two local newspapers. During a public hearing about the speed limit changes, which was also part of the requirement for implementing them, no one spoke in favor of or against them.

The commissioners also approved an indigent burial and reappointed Jo Ann Hahs and Tom Gross to four-year terms on the Riverside Regional Library board. Hahs and Gross have both served on the board for more than a decade.

Asking about asphalt

County resident Jerry Eggemeyer thanked the commissioners for their efforts in adding blacktop to County Roads 450 and 465 where he lives, and requested they put a stop to heavy, asphalt-laden trucks from inadvertently damaging the road.

“I hate to see something fixed up so nice — you went through a lot of trouble to do it and expense — and I hate to see it get torn up,” he said.

Associate Commissioner Paul Koeper said he was not in favor of regulating the weights of trucks on county roads, adding that the Missouri Department of Transportation only requires maximum vehicle weight on bridges and by certain structures.

“There’s not a good solution to us regulating trucks on county roads,” Koeper said.