From paper to pavement

When Harry Rediger envisions the proposed new $1.9 million Armstrong Drive in west Cape Girardeau, he imagines it as another Siemers Drive, a highly traveled roadway lined with big-name businesses and popular restaurants.

But the Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning commissioner also sees beneath the surface and asserts that such a roadway would offer so much more -- a forward-thinking traffic solution, a catalyst for job creation and a much-needed boost to the city's tax base.

"It wasn't too many years ago that we didn't have development or retail west of I-55," Rediger said.

With Kohl's recently opening and construction of Sears Grand nearly finished -- not to mention the host of other strip malls, auto dealerships and other businesses on or near Siemers -- Rediger may be looking into a fairly accurate crystal ball.

But first voters must approve.

The new Armstrong Drive is one of nine projects that are part of Transportation Trust Fund 3, a half-cent sales tax first approved by voters in 1995 and then extended in 2000. On Aug. 2, voters will be asked to extend the tax for another five years to pay for $20 million in major street improvements across the city.

Rediger is chairman of the P&Z commission subcommittee that scrutinized potential projects that would be on the list for TTF-3.

Currently, Armstrong Drive exists only on paper as a small roadway for two governmental buildings -- the Division of Youth Services and the Office of Probation and Parole -- before trailing off into the countryside.

If voters approve, Armstrong Drive would be extended basically along Ramsey Branch, running west to Bloomfield Road before curving north all the way to Route K, ending about a quarter-mile or so west of Wal-Mart. The new roadway would basically provide a connector street from Siemers and Bloomfield Road to Route K, city officials say.

Project profile

While Armstrong Drive doesn't come with the highest price tag on the list, it certainly has the potential to be the highest profile project.

And not only for business growth. Siemers has created some traffic congestion that needs to be dealt with, says Mayor Jay Knudtson.

Voters will be asked to extend a half-cent sales tax in August with revenue designated for road projects, including Armstrong Drive. It is seen as a development boon and offers much-needed relief for traffic congestion west of Interstate 55.

Siemers Drive and other nearby streets need traffic relief because of the massive number of cars that are driving in the area to shop at the businesses there, Knudtson said. The nearly 7-year-old Notre Dame Regional High School and new residential subdivisions being developed in the area are also adding to traffic volume, he said.

Also, Knudtson said that the city "could not deny" the increased traffic that the whole Dalhousie project will create. That particular $250 million project calls for 500 home sites and 200 condominiums to be built on the 900-plus acres on the outskirts of Dalhousie Golf Club near Blackford Lane. That project would dump traffic onto Bloomfield Road as well.

"The P&Z group has identified areas in and around Siemers to relieve some of the pressure," Knudtson said. "The group felt that Armstrong Drive is something for the long-term planning of the city that would help us do that. The group has had to be a bit visionary in its thinking."

City planner Kent Bratton said that the project has not been designed and the right of way has not been purchased from property owners, a partial list which includes Drury Southwest and Drury Development.

Bratton said that the city doesn't do that work until after voter approval. He said if voters say yes, then preliminary engineering will be done. There are also alternative routes.

"Right now, we're not even exactly sure where that road would go," Bratton said. "All we have is a general area."

Some of the property would have to be annexed into the city limits, Bratton said, and then rezoned, most likely for commercial use.

City manager Doug Leslie said some of portions of the road on its western fringe would also likely be zoned for residential use.

"It could have some good commercial use," Leslie said. "But probably not to the extreme that Siemers has."

The new Armstrong Drive, if approved, would be done no later than 2010, though it could be sooner within the five-year window, Leslie said.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137

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Cape road projects

Nine specific street improvement projects are part of Transportation Trust Fund 3, which Cape Girardeau residents will vote on Aug. 2:

* Mount Auburn Road from Independence and Kingshighway

* Bloomfield Road from Stonebridge Drive to and including Benton Hill Road intersection

* Armstrong Drive

* Sprigg Street general repairs from Highway 74 to William Street

* Bend Road-Mason Street-Main Street, from Mill Street to Cape Rock Drive

* Vantage Drive from Kingshighway to Scenic Drive-Ashland Court

* Kingshighway-Cape Rock-Broadview-Maria Louise intersections

* LaSalle Avenue, from I-55 at new interchange to Route W

* Fountain Street phase two, from Morgan Oak to William

SOURCE: City of Cape Girardeau