LEXINGTON INTERSECTION WORK LAUNCHED

City and Missouri Highway and Transportation Department officials Tuesday broke ground on the next segment of Cape Girardeau's $3 million Lexington Avenue arterial project.

The newest segment will consist of a five-lane road and bridge over Cape LaCroix Creek between Mount Auburn Road and Lexington. Also, traffic signals will be installed at the intersection of Kingshighway and Mount Auburn.

The $1.3 million project is a cooperative effort of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department and the city of Cape Girardeau.

About 20 officials associated with the project and city representatives attended the ceremony held at the intersection of Lexington and Route W.

Cape Girardeau City Manager J. Ronald Fischer thanked the highway department's District 10 office and former engineer Bob Sfreddo, who worked to secure additional state and federal funding for the project.

The city manager said after the ceremony that the highway department handled the project on behalf of the city, securing funds just before funding was curtailed as a new federal highway bill was stalled in Congress.

"We went to the highway department and asked their participation," Fischer said. "They agreed to fund something like 25 percent of the signalization portion only.

"Then they got approval out of Jefferson City to participate in 25 percent of the whole project."

Fischer said that because the state handled the project, it moved quickly through various channels, which was crucial to beating the funding cut-off.

"We were going to carry it through and get specifications and bid it and everything," he said. "But it was a much smoother process by letting them handle it.

"We would not be at the ground-breaking stage today if it weren't for District 10 taking this project. We would have had Lexington as it is, and would be waiting to see how long it takes the federal government to pass a highway bill."

Fischer said at the ceremony that the Lexington project dates to the 1950s, when the Cape Special Road District acquired right of way for Mount Auburn Road.

He said Mount Auburn and its connection with Lexington to the north and Route 74 to the south was intended to serve as an "outer belt" around the city.

But Freeman McCullah, the highway department's southeast district engineer, said that given the rapid residential development in Cape Girardeau's north side and commercial development in the west end of town, that plan clearly has changed. "I think it's going to be an inner-belt with the development in Cape Girardeau," he said.

State Rep. Mary Kasten of Cape Girardeau said Lexington will be a major accomplishment for the city when it's finally completed.

"I'm glad Missouri had some part of this project," she said. "I know it's really going to expedite traffic and add to our development in this end of town."

Fischer said the city plans to have the next phase of the project, a section from Carolina Lane to Perryville Road, completed by next fall.

The segment the city broke ground for Tuesday includes construction of a 930-foot, five-lane connection with a 150-foot, five-lane bridge over Cape LaCroix Creek. Kingshighway also will be widened 10 feet at its approaches to the intersection.

The city will fund all costs of the traffic signals at the Mount Auburn-Kingshighway intersection.

The city also will pay for 75 percent of the remainder of the project through Federal Aid Urban funds, and the state will provide a 25-percent match.

Total cost to the city for the segment is slightly less than $1 million. Robertson Contractors Inc. of Poplar Bluff is the project's contractor.

The Lexington intersection at Route W will be temporarily closed during one stage of construction, but Route W, Kingshighway and Mount Auburn Road will be open to traffic throughout construction.

The total Lexington arterial project is slated for completion in 1993.

The street eventually will connect with Highway 177 on the city's east end. The arterial street is expected to open northern sections of the city for development and will provide an east-west artery for traffic in the city's northern residential areas.