MoDOT outlines projects for Cape County

State highway officials plan to blow up and remove Cape Girardeau's old Mississippi River bridge next year, sending tons of steel and concrete crashing into the muddy water -- a $3.88 million spectacle that's expected to draw a crowd.

"A lot of times, they will use explosives to dislodge the bridge off the piers and then use big heavy equipment to pull the steel back out of the water," said Barry Horst, project development engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation in Sikeston. The piers themselves also must be removed so they won't interfere with river traffic, he said.

The bridge demolition is one of nine road and bridge projects in Cape Girardeau County that MoDOT plans over the next five years. The total cost is more than $30 million.

The old, narrow span, built in 1928, is being replaced by a new, wider bridge scheduled for completion by the end of this year.

Catherine Dunlap, director of Old Town Cape, a nonprofit organization that promotes redevelopment in the city's historic neighborhoods, including the riverfront, agrees the bridge razing will draw a lot of spectators.

"In some ways, they will hate to see a part of Cape Girardeau history gone," she said. "I think it will definitely be an interesting thing to watch."

Despite its deteriorating shape and its narrow lanes, the old bridge has been good for Cape Girardeau, providing a vital transportation link to Illinois, she said.

"It has helped make Cape Girardeau what it is today," she said.

Even so, civic leaders, she said, already are making plans for how to celebrate the bridge's demise.

The bridge razing is one of 52 projects on MoDOT's to-do list for Southeast Missouri for the next five years. In all, MoDOT has budgeted $158 million for road and bridge improvements in the 14-county district, Horst said.

But that price tag includes an estimated $15 to $20 million for projects that have yet to be developed, Horst said.

Scott City omitted

Improving the Interstate 55 interchange at Scott City is one project being considered by state highway officials in Sikeston. But currently it's not in the five-year plan.

But Horst said the plan is updated annually and the Scott City project could be added in the future, although at this point highway officials still haven't settled on how to improve the confusing, congested interchange.

The five-year road plan -- approved earlier this month by the state highway commission -- includes costly improvements in the Jackson area, including more nearly $12 million to widen Highway 34 and $5.27 million to construct a new Main Street interchange at I-55.

Ken Parrett, executive director of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, said it's not surprising that MoDOT plans so many major road improvements in the Jackson area. "They have to pay attention to us. We grew so quickly," said Parrett.

Jackson's population grew by 29 percent in the 1990s to nearly 12,000 people, making it the fastest-growing city in Southeast Missouri.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123