FLOOD-CONTROL WORK NEARS COMPLETION

The end is getting near for the Cape Girardeau flood-control project.

The final phase of the project to widen and straighten Walker Branch, which began in February, is expected to be finished by November, said Darl Ferguson, project manager for Mosley Construction, the contractor.

The improvements run from just north of Kingsway Drive to the intersection of Cape Rock Drive and Perryville Road.

A 75-foot-wide, 8-to-12-foot-deep channel is being dug from just east of Karau Street to Marietta Street. Grass will line the channel down to an 8-foot-wide, 1-foot-deep concrete channel in the center. The creek will normally flow through the concrete channel.

From Marietta to Cape Rock Drive, the earthen channel will narrow to 20 feet in width and 8 feet in depth.

Ferguson said the final phase of the project is about 35 percent complete. Eighty percent of the land, some 4,700 feet, has been cleared south of Marietta, and 1,300 feet has been concreted. There still remains 1,200 feet of land north of Marietta to be cleared.

Currently, land is being cleared at Marietta between Clark Avenue and Ridgeway Drive.

The construction doesn't bother one nearby resident. "It's a mess right now, but I'm sure it's all for the better," said Rebecca Schroeder, who lives on Drury Lane just off of Clark Street. "There haven't really been any inconveniences."

The city is also closer to acquiring land needed for a dry detention reservoir near Route W and County Road 620. Proceedings have been filed in court for condemnation of the farm land.

City planner Kent Bratton said the dry detention reservoir will help prevent flooding.

"During a heavy rain event, water will collect behind a dam," he said. "Then the water will flow out in a matter of days." The slow draining of water will reduce the threat of flooding. He anticipates the reservoir to be built next year.

The city is still in the process of constructing a hiking and biking trail from Osage Centre to Arena Park as part of the project. Bratton said another bridge is ready to be set at Hopper Road. Bratton expects it to be completed in late August or early September.

In May, Nip Kelley Construction Co. was awarded the contract to construct another extension of the trail that will run from Osage Centre under Kingshighway to Highway W and Kingsway Drive.

The flood-control project has been going on since 1991. The project will cost more than $40 million, 75 percent of which the Army Corps of Engineers is funding. The rest will come from the city.

The latest phase will cost approximately $3.8 million, $1.8 million of which the city is funding.