Disability act requires city to remove trees, repair sidewalks during street repairs

Old shade trees bordering some Cape Girardeau streets have torn up sidewalks and will be removed as part of street projects that will include replacing some sidewalks, city officials said.

The city�s annual asphalt overlay of streets will include new, wider concrete sidewalks in places because federal law requires it, city engineer Casey Brunke said.

The old, 4-foot-wide sidewalks will be replaced with 5-foot-wide walkways, she said Monday.

Brunke said the wider sidewalks are the city�s standard now, which allows two people in wheelchairs to pass each other.

According to Brunke, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires the city to replace torn up sidewalks as part of street projects.

Scott Howes views the sidewalk along the 700 block of Bellevue Street on Monday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

But Cape Girardeau resident Scott Howes doesn�t want to see the trees removed.

Several large trees stand between his street and the existing sidewalk. Their large roots have pushed up sidewalk slabs.

Engineering staff recently visited his block. He said they told him several trees would be taken down.

But Howes, who lives in an apartment building in the 700 block of Bellevue St., said he would prefer the trees be preserved so they can continue to provide homes for birds and squirrels.

Howes said removing the trees would create an ugly landscape in older neighborhoods.

Scott Howes touches a tree near the sidewalk along the 700 block of Bellevue Street on Monday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

Installing wider sidewalks also could damage lawns, he said.

But Brunke said the city is not looking to destroy yards.

Bellevue Street, from Ellis to Sprigg streets, was originally on the list of asphalt paving projects planned for this year. But Brunke said that street won�t be done this year.

�We still know the street needs work,� she said, adding it could be on the list of projects slated for asphalt overlays in 2019 or 2020.

Voters in 2015 extended a transportation sales tax for another five years. The Transportation Trust Fund tax is slated to generate millions of dollars for road projects, including $3.5 million over five years for asphalt overwork, Brunke said.

The sidewalk along the 700 block of Bellevue Street is seen Monday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

That works to about $700,000 annually to asphalt overlay streets.

The city plans to do asphalt paving on sections of a dozen streets as well as a parking lot at Shawnee Park this year, Brunke said.

Asphalt paving is scheduled on parts of Bessie, Merriwether, Benton, Third, Water, Locust and Ellis streets, as well as Spring, Brink and Stoddard avenues, and Kingsway and Lakeshore drives.

The city council is expected to award the paving contract in April, she said.

According to Brunke, the federal ADA requires pushed-up and broken sidewalks, which pose a challenge to people with disabilities, to be replaced.

Scott Howes views the sidewalk along the 700 block of Bellevue Street on Monday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

It adds to the cost of both asphalt and concrete paving projects, she said. But the city has no choice, she added.

The federal government has more strictly enforced ADA requirements over the last five to seven years, Brunke said.

Brunke said the paving involves milling about 2 inches off the existing pavement where needed and placing and compacting a new hot mix asphalt for a 2-inch overlay. In addition to replacing some sidewalks and removing trees, the project also includes removal and replacement of parts of driveways, curb and gutter, and adjusting of existing utilities and manholes.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

700 block of Bellevue Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.