MODOT FIXES ALTERNATIVES FOR ROUTE 34 BYPASS

The Missouri Department of Transportation has taken steps to fix proposed alternates for a Route 34 bypass, a MODOT official says.

District Engineer Scott Meyer says the alternates for the proposed bypass from Jackson to Cape Girardeau have been adjusted so they no longer run through a new school or several businesses in the Jackson area.

"We're making sure that we're going to miss those," Meyer said, adding MODOT is concerned that residents are unaware that the proposed alternatives for the bypass have been corrected.

But Alternative 9, the southernmost route under study, has not been adjusted, and still runs through the Wolf Lane subdivision, where residents are worried about losing their homes.

"That's certainly a concern," Meyer said.

But, he said, design criteria limit how much the alternates under study for the Route 34 bypass can be changed.

If the southernmost route doesn't go through Wolf Lane, Meyer said, it won't meet the necessary criteria for the type of road MODOT says is needed.

"You really have to have an alternative here that is a high efficiency route. Otherwise it becomes just a local road, and people have local roads and existing roads to use for those kinds of purposes," he said.

Local officials prefer a southern route for the bypass. Some of the alternatives -- including a proposal to widen Highway 34/61 to five lanes through Jackson and other proposals to bring the new bypass onto Route K at or near the I-55 intersection -- have already met with local disapproval.

A more southern route would keep additional traffic from being dumped into the Route K-I-55 intersection, which Cape Girardeau officials say is already overcrowded.

MODOT will continue to gather public input on the nine proposed alternatives for the Route 34 bypass.

Local officials have said they won't endorse any route until they can see exactly how it will impact surrounding property owners.

State highway officials will meet with officials from Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Cape Girardeau County June 23 to discuss plans for the bypass.

No decision is expected before this fall, and work won't start on the new route before 2002, MODOT officials say.

Meyer said the state has to weigh several factors in picking the alternative, including cost, construction time, environmental and residential impact and other construction needs in the region.

"As we go through the process and we narrow our choices and we find some solution that will work,w e have to get some perspective on this," he said.

Estimated costs for the bypass range from $22 million to $89 million, and local officials doubt the state will be willing to invest upwards of $80 million -- the estimated cost for Alternative 9 -- for the route.

And there are other projects that need to be carried out, Meyer and local officials have pointed out.

Meyer mentioned upgrading the Route K-Interstate 55 interchange, the construction of the proposed East Main interchange at Jackson, improvements at Center Junction, the new Mississippi River Bridge and a proposed new connector road between Cape Girardeau and Scott City to ease traffic on the interstate.

"That's millions and millions of dollars and we've got to try and look at what the priorities and what the needs are," he said. "There's only going to be so much money available."