GORDONVILLE AND SILVER SPRINGS TO GET ROUNDABOUT

Cape Girardeau motorists might be driving in circles once the city constructs its first roundabout later this year.

The Cape Girardeau City Council awarded a bid Monday on construction of the Silver Springs Road from William Street north to the existing road south of Independence. The project is part of the current Transportation Trust Fund program.

Engineering plans are complete; the bid was awarded to Lappe Cement Finishing Inc., of Perryville, at a cost of $661,450. Original engineering estimates were $723, 762.

Other bids:

• PR Developers Inc. of Cape Girardeau bid $905,518.
• Fronabarger Concreters Inc. of Oak Ridge bid $675,776.
• Nip Kelley Equipment Co. of Cape Girardeau bid $743,369.

The project includes clearing and grading the proposed road, installing new pavement and all stormwater piping, demolishing the existing street and entrance along Gordonville Road from St. Francis Drive east and installing islands for a roundabout.

A traffic light will be installed at Silver Springs Road where it meets William Street.

Construction could begin as early as June and should not affect emergency entrances at St. Francis Medical Center, city officials said.

Mayor Al Spradling III has wanted the city to build a roundabout for some time and hopes to see more of them in the future.

Roundabouts require that all motorists yield to oncoming traffic instead of creating four-way stops.

"I wanted one at Bertling and Sprigg street, that would be a great place," Spradling said. The intersection now has a four-way stop where previously it was just a two-way stop for motorists.

Certainly it takes some education to make drivers understand how the roundabout system works, he said. But people drive in roundabouts in other cities like Anna and Belleville, Ill., and Chaffee without problems.

Columbia, Mo., is building a roundabout along Business Loop 70.

Spradling admitted that roundabouts can be confusing. "I got in one in England and didn't think I'd get out," he said.

But Cape Girardeau doesn't plan to construct anything quite that large, city planners say.

Nor will there be great amounts of traffic using the roundabout, said City Planner Kent Bratton.

"If there is you and one other car on Gordonville Road, you're lucky," Bratton said.

Because Gordonville Road doesn't see as much traffic as other roads in the city, it was an ideal location for a roundabout, said City Engineer Mark Lester.

The benefits of a roundabout there are its proximity to the signal lights at William Street; lower volumes of traffic on Gordonville Road and adjoining roads; and geometrics. The land is suitable for such construction, he said.

Roundabouts first came up for discussion in the city when the university suggested improvements to the intersection of Sprigg and Normal streets.

The university would have funded half of a project to install traffic signals; the city would have paid for the remainder of the project.

Traffic signals cost between $100,000 and $130,000, while roundabouts only cost $100,000 or less to build, engineers said.