FLOOD, NEW EPA REGULATIONS DELAY HIGHWAY WORK AT DIVERSION CHANNEL

The Missouri Highway and Transportation Department says the flood of 1993 and new federal Environmental Protection Administration regulations are delaying sandblasting and repainting of the northbound Interstate-55 Diversion Channel bridge south of Cape Girardeau.

This year's flooding also will delay until next year completion of shoulder work on a new section of Highway 25 south of Dutchtown.

Frequent congestion occurs on the interstate while the I-55 bridge work is under way.

Most of the sandblasting is going on under the bridge, out of sight of passing motorists. Only the sandblasting equipment is on the bridge, which requires that the driving lane be closed while the work is going on. The bridge does not have a right-hand shoulder, which would allow the sandblasting equipment to be moved out of the driving lane.

Closure of the driving lane has caused extensive traffic backups because vehicles are forced to merge into a single lane before crossing the bridge. The congestion is aggravated by Nash Road traffic merging with interstate traffic.

Freeman McCullah, District 10 highway engineer at Sikeston, said the work should have been completed in one summer. The project began early 1992.

Said McCullah: "The project has dragged on much longer than we wanted for a couple of reasons: Because of the flooding under the bridge the work had to be stopped and because EPA regulations now require us to collect all of the sandblasted paint chips for disposal. This is the same regulation that is holding up the sandblasting and repainting of the Chester, Ill., bridge."

McCullah said the bridge work is only done four days a week, 10 hours a day to reduce congestion.

At one point last summer, McCullah ordered sandblasting halted after floodwaters closed Highway 74 and 25 at Dutchtown. The closure had forced motorists who normally used the two highways to detour each day over I-55 between Scott City and Cape Girardeau. With only a single lane of traffic able to cross the bridge while the work was going on, traffic was frequently backed up to the Scott City interchange.

The sandblasting resumed this fall after the water went down and both highways were reopened.

"With some good weather, and if the river will stay down, we should be able to complete this project in about two more months," said McCullah.

He said the northbound I-55 Diversion Channel bridge is scheduled to be widened soon to include an acceleration lane for Nash Road traffic. The nearby southbound I-55 bridge was widened a few years ago to accommodate a deceleration lane for traffic turning onto Nash Road.

McCullah said the flood delayed completion of the shoulder along the southbound lane of the new section of Highway 25 between Dutchtown and Blomeyer.

The new section of highway and a new bridge over the Diversion Channel were opened last year, but the right-hand shoulder work could not be completed until the old highway pavement on the west side of the new highway was removed by the contractor. That was scheduled to start last spring, but the flood prevented the work.

"With the water so high most of the summer, the contractor was unable to get into the borrow pit to haul dirt for the shoulder. It will be next spring or early summer before work can resume on the shoulder," said McCullah. "In the meantime, we must continue with the 35 mph speed limit on that section of new highway for the safety of motorists. If someone were to veer off the right-hand side of the highway at a high rate of speed, it could cause a serious, possibly fatal accident.