LEXINGTON EXTENSION ON SCHEDULE AS CITY APPROVES FOURTH PHASE CONTRACT

Progress on the Lexington Avenue arterial project in Cape Girardeau is inching closer to a major stage that is expected to open a large tract of land in the northern edge of the city for development.

Cape Girardeau City Manager J. Ronald Fischer said Wednesday that he expects the route will be connected to Old Sprigg Street Road at Melody Lane this spring.

Melody Lane, now a gravel road, essentially will be the corridor for the extension of Lexington to Highway 177. That section, along with a corresponding northern extension of Sprigg Street from Bertling to Lexington, is expected to "open up" a large, undeveloped tract of property in north Cape Girardeau.

The Cape Girardeau City Council this week approved a contract with Nip Kelley Equipment Company for "phase four" of the project, which will extend the new Lexington east from its intersection with Perryville Road to existing Lexington just west of Sherwood Drive.

The 30-foot-wide section of pavement on the existing Lexington which extends east to Cape Rock Drive also will be widened to 36 feet.

Fischer said the Lexington project is "right on schedule" and the entire route should be completed next year.

"Right now Lexington intersects with Perryville Road, and this current project will connect it from Perryville on past Sherwood," he said. "When we get done with this, Lexington will dead end at Cape Rock Drive."

Fischer said the next section, from Cape Rock to Sprigg Street Road, should be ready for bid in April.

"I would hope that by 30 to 60 days, we have the right-of-way acquisition accomplished and be able to finalize the plan and bid it within 90 days," he said. "The tract of land there from Cape Rock to Sprigg is all owned by one family, and we've had a number of meetings with those people already."

As soon as Lexington is connected with Sprigg Street Road, Fischer said the city will try to speed efforts to finalize plans for the extension of Sprigg Street from Bertling to Lexington. Sprigg Street Road runs northwest from Bertling, beginning at a point west of the Sprigg Street and Bertling intersection.

Fischer said the city will "be making every effort to have the North Sprigg Street extension under way" when Lexington is connected to Sprigg Street Road.

"Right-of-way acquisition is what all this hinges on. If we had that done, we could have it under construction this spring."

The area east of Sprigg Road along Melody Lane is largely rural, undeveloped property. But Fischer said it is in the city limits and zoned for residential development.

The new Sprigg Street also might become the corridor for Highway 177 if city officials can successfully persuade state highway officials.

Fischer said the city continues to negotiate with the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department on the matter.

"We have discussed with them, in preliminary stages, the possibility of the city taking over maintenance of Big Bend Road (the present corridor for 177) if they'll help with some of the expense and maintenance of the Sprigg Street extension," he said.

The city manager said that not only has the Lexington project remained on schedule, it's also stayed within budget. The only part of the project where costs have exceeded preliminary estimates is in the area of the Kingshighway-Mt. Auburn-Route W intersection.

"When we first discussed the project, it was from Kingshighway all the way to 177, but we were not discussing an intersection like the one at Kingshighway," Fischer said. "And we were not discussing a five-lane bridge over Cape LaCroix Creek.

"That was not designed in and wasn't calculated in estimates. But Lexington from Route W to 177, so far, is running within engineers' estimates."

Fischer said Federal Aid Urban and state highway funds paid for the bridge and intersection work at Kingshighway. He hopeful the remainder of the route will stay within budget.

"We've been fortunate, and have received some good bids," he said. "If that continues, we'll be all right. But that's one of those unforeseen things you can't predict."