HIGHWAY 34 IMPROVEMENT UNDER STUDY

An 85-mile stretch of Highway 34 from Cape Girardeau to near Van Buren could be widened, straightened and improved into a "super two" highway.

The highway still would be two lanes but better designed to handle traffic, state highway officials said Tuesday.

The Missouri Department of Transportation is paying $1.8 million to a St. Louis engineering firm to study traffic patterns and develop a plan to improve Highway 34 through Southeast Missouri.

Ray Steege, project manger for QST, the firm doing the work, said there isn't enough traffic on Highway 34 to warrant making it a four-lane highway from its intersection with Highway 21 in Reynolds County to Interstate 55 at Cape Girardeau.

About 1,000 to 2,000 vehicles a day travel stretches of Highway 34, but there are some locations with heavier traffic, he told a meeting Tuesday that included officials from Cape Girardeau County, Cape Girardeau and Jackson. About 20 people attended the meeting at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce office.

Earlier in the day, MoDOT staff met with local government officials at Marble Hill.

DawnRae Clark, MoDOT project manager, said the study is expected to take 18 months to complete. Construction money hasn't been allocated yet.

Scott Meyer, MoDOT district engineer, said Highway 34 has sharp curves and steep hills and lacks shoulders in many places. Some areas along the route have a higher-than-average number of accidents, he said.

Clark said the highway won't be improved overnight.

Clark and Meyer said MoDOT officials plan to visit with city councils and county commissions, and seek public comments during the planning stage.

MoDOT has scheduled public, open-house-style meetings in July and August. The first meeting is scheduled for 4 to 7:30 p.m. at Southeast Missouri Hospital's Community Center at Main Street Fitness in Jackson. A meeting is scheduled for Aug. 3 in Piedmont and for Aug. 5 at Marble Hill.

Steege and Clark said improvements to Highway 34 could include relocation of some stretches of the highway. Bypasses might be built around Marble Hill and Piedmont. Improving traffic flow could actually benefit businesses in those towns, Steege said.

Clark said Bollinger County officials want Highway 34 improved for safety and economic development reasons. "They would like to promote some economic development," she said.