Latest phase of Veterans Memorial Drive project nears conclusion

Phase Five of the Veterans Memorial Drive project is underway, and the end, it seems, is near.

While the six-phase project ultimately will create an outer road for Interstate 55 connecting Lasalle Road and Route K, this particular phase essentially will create a new road along the highway, extending Veterans Memorial Drive south of the Missouri Veterans Home.

The contractor, R.L. Persons Construction Co. of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, recently finished all the grading and put in the base rock for that section of road, city engineer Casey Brunke said.

She said there is some minor work left to do on storm inlets, but at this point, the focus is on paving.

"They just started paving last week," Brunke said.

To complete this project, the city had to close a thoroughfare near Interstate 55 and Hopper Road, where the new road connects, for several months.

Reopening this intersection is the main priority.

"There's a subdivision over there, and those folks can't go over [Interstate] 55 to get into town -- they have to take an alternate route," Brunke said.

The road leading to Scenic Drive is new, so people haven't grown accustomed to or reliant on driving on it, "so we'll get that completed after we get Hopper Road back open," Brunke said.

She said completing the paving to open Hopper will take "a couple weeks."

Though the end is near for this phase, it is not necessarily in sight. Brunke said the original substantial completion date for Phase Five was next week, but thanks to a wet summer that restricted progress, the city and the contractor will need to negotiate a new end goal.

"We're really pushing them to get Hopper open," Brunke said. "Then we'll sit down and figure out what time they're due."

When the road paving is done, they will focus on sidewalks, which typically are poured after the road work.

There will be sidewalks all along the east side of Phase Five from Scenic Drive to Hopper Road, which will connect to Hopper Drive's sidewalk.

Brunke said there is sidewalk on Phase Four, which is just north of Phase Five, leading to the new indoor-sports complex.

"We don't have pedestrian amenities across Highway 61, but you can walk all the way up there if you need to," Brunke said.

The final result, she said, will be a good network of sidewalks.

There is no completion date for the entire project, Brunke said.

Phase One, which travels from Lasalle Road to County Road 306, and Phase Four, which goes from Kingshighway to Scenic Drive, are complete.

Phase Two, which will travel from County Road 306 to the new sports complex, and Phase Three, which continues Phase Two to the highway, are not yet complete, nor are they fully funded.

Phase Six, from Hopper Road to Route K, has not been finalized.

Brunke said she expects the entire project to take at least a decade to complete.

bbrown@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630