CREWS REPAIR AREA ILLINOIS ROADS DAMAGED BY FLOOD, SEEP WATERS

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- Paving of Route 146 between the Mississippi River bridge and the Route 3 intersection could be completed by Monday.

"The work is expected to take two or three days," said Bill Stout, operations engineer for Illinois Department of Transportation's Carbondale office. "We completed work on two areas of Route 3 south of McClure Thursday, and started the Route 146 work Friday."

Stout said the contractor indicated he would work Saturday, weather permitting.

"We'll also start hauling rock Saturday to the section of Route 3 from the 3-146 intersection south toward Gale," said Stout. "We hope to start paving there within a week."

This almost two-mile section of Route 3 has been closed since late September due to seep water in the area. "We have to raise the road in spots, and have some other holes to fill," said Stout, who indicated that no traffic would be permitted on that portion of Route 3 until paving is completed.

He said temporary asphalt pavement is being put down for the winter months. "Next summer, we'll come back and put down a permanent asphalt surface," said Stout.

The IDOT has kept Route 146 open throughout the 1993 flood, raising sections of the highway this summer and fall as seep and rain water continued to rise in the East Cape Girardeau-Clear Creek Levee District. The IDOT has dumped more than 20,000 tons of rock on the road since mid-September.

During an early September weekend, workers hauled rock throughout the weekend to raise the level of Route 146 in several areas following a four-inch rainfall. With one-way traffic, motorists had waits of up to an hour.

"We don't expect any long waits during the asphalt work," said Stout. "Motorists may have 10 to 15 minute waits."

Southern Illinois Asphalt of Mt. Vernon is doing the asphalt work.

A total of 4.7 miles will receive the new paving, with the long stretch - 10,760 feet -- along Route 3 toward Gale.

"There is a total of 11,400 feet on Route 146, but not in one stretch," said Stout. "We have about four different stretches there." Another 2,890 feet of asphalt was placed on Route 3, north of the Route 3-146 intersection toward McClure.