MAIN STREET TO CLOSE ONE LANE FOR METER WORK

AmerenUE will move its meter-replacement project to downtown Cape Girardeau today.

The work will result in one-lane traffic and no parking on a 50 to 75-foot section of the Main Street while gas meter work is in progress.

Moving the meters from inside buildings to an outside location is mandated by the Public Service Commission, said an AmerenUE spokesman.

"Only six of the meters remain to be moved in the two-block area of Main St., from Broadway to Independence," he said. "And, it takes about a full day for each one."

That comes to six working days, but all six meters won't be completed continuously.

"We may do one this week, another next week, etc.," said the spokesman.

AmerenUE, which is nearing the end of a 10-year project to move 10,000 meters meters outside, has been installing the new meters along Broadway.

"We realize these projects must be done," said Judith Lang, owner of Judith Ann's gift shop at 130 N. Main. "We'll just have to be patient. We want to remind customers that we are still here, and are open."

Work will start on the Broadway end of the two-block area.

"Hopefully, they will move quickly on the project," said Evelyn Boardman of Madder Rose Antique Mall. "Independence Street closed here recently, and they moved pretty quickly on that."

The entire 10-year project must be completed by December 31. The program originally called for 1,000 meters a year to be moved and only 15 to 20 meters remain to be moved.

The project includes moving the meter and replacing lines that feeds gas to the property, which requires digging.