Major Cape roadway improvements bumped up to 2023

A "noticeable deterioration" in recent months and a stream of resident complaints have pushed Cape Girardeau municipal officials to reshuffle upcoming street projects to expedite improvements to a major roadway.

Lexington Avenue -- from Carolina Lane to Sherwood Drive and from West Cape Rock Drive to Sprigg Street -- was originally slated for improvements in 2024. Renovations to the roadway will now begin in 2023, according to a news release from the city.

The project is expected to cost around $2.4 million.

It is funded under the sixth iteration of Cape Girardeau's Transportation Trust Fund, a half-cent sales tax dedicated to transportation improvements that has been approved by voters every five years since 1995.

In coming months, sections of Lexington will be removed and replaced and additional curb, gutters and sidewalks will be repaired. Construction is expected to last into 2024.

In order to expedite work on the roadway project, timelines will shift. Improvements to Sprigg from Southern Expressway to Highway 74 were originally scheduled to begin this year, but will be shifted to 2024. Additionally, repairs to Bertling Street from Perryville Road to Big Bend Road were slated to round out TTF6 in 2025. Now, both Sprigg and Bertling improvements will be designed and ready for construction and will be prioritized based on an evaluation of their conditions, the news release said.

The city will have the available funding to possibly begin both projects in 2024.