Jackson allowed to annex I-55 and U.S. 61 corridors to Fruitland

Jackson is looking northward for the next phase of growth.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission agreed to allow Jackson to annex the Interstate 55 corridor from the East Main Street interchange to the Fruitland interchange, a distance of 3.35 miles. The commission also agreed to the city's request to annex U.S. 61 from Route Y to the Fruitland interchange.

While the annexations, which are limited to right of way owned by the state, won't change how adjacent landowners use their property now or in the future, it will allow for more orderly growth, public works director Rodney Bollinger said. And it will make it easier for property owners to voluntarily add their land to the city, he said.

The annexation marks the first time Jackson has crossed Interstate 55. From the East Main Street interchange to the south, the I-55 corridor is part of Cape Girardeau to the western edge of the right of way. Now I-55 is part of Jackson to the eastern boundary of the right of way north of East Main Street.

"Absolutely the main reason was to secure orderly growth to the north for our city," Bollinger said. "It makes it really easy for those who own private property that abuts the city" to ask for annexation.

Jackson doesn't have any particular property in mind that it wants to add, Bollinger said. And there will be no involuntary annexations, a process that is cumbersome and can require two elections to complete, he said.

As the city grows to the north, it expects to build sewers and power lines to the area, but there are no immediate plans to do so, Bollinger said.

The city cannot control land uses in unincorporated areas. And it cannot use highway access as leverage to make landowners limit how they use the land, he added.

"We weren't actively trying to get people to bring their land in; this is just a means of trying to guarantee that we can when they want it," Bollinger said. "It is easier to fill in the gaps once we have the outline."

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Fruitland, MO