MODOT REJECTS IDEA OF NEW ROAD BETWEEN CAPE AND SCOTT CITY

Looking for better ways to travel between Scott City and Cape Girardeau?

The Missouri Department of Transportation did, and couldn't find any.

A two-year study to determine the feasibility of building a new road between the two cities found the costs too high for the benefits it would bring, said DawnRae Vaught, MoDOT project manager.

A number of options were explored, but they would all cost more than $10 million, Vaught said.

Some of the possibilities explored were extending Route N from Scott City to Nash Road to Highway 74, or following old Highway 61. The old road bed for Highway 61 is still in place.

But any alternate route between the two cities would require construction of a new bridge over the Diversion Channel, and this is where the value becomes prohibitive, Vaught said.

"For the cost involved and the level of service that an alternate route could offer, making a two-lane road just isn't worth it," she said.

By the time a new road would be finished, it would be too congested to be useful, Vaught said.

"We can't get federal funds to build roads that immediately become obsolete," she said.

Nevertheless, the level of traffic in the area is high, and it will only grow, said Randy Morse, president of the Scott City Chamber of Commerce.

About 15,000 vehicles a day travel the five-mile stretch of Interstate 55 between the two cities. The stretch of highway has a high number of accidents.

Many residents of eastern Scott City take Nellie Road to Nash Road, which leads to the interstate, Morse said. Others will drive on Route K to the Southeast Missouri Port Authority and then travel back along Nash Road.

"We do have other ways out of town, but they are not convenient ways out of town," Morse said.

If MoDOT can't offer a new route now, Morse said he hopes it will consider one in the future.

In the meantime, Morse expressed satisfaction with what MoDOT does plan to do in the area.

A public hearing is planned for Oct. 7 to discuss changes for the Interstate 55 bridge over the Diversion Channel and the Nash Road interchange just south of the bridge.

Scott Meyer, district engineer for MoDOT, said the project will involve three major aspects:

-- Replacing the northbound bridge over the Diversion Channel.

-- Upgrading the Nash Road, or Route AB, interchange by relocating the northbound and southbound ramps further from the ends of the Route AB overpass.

-- Widening the overpass to three lanes.

The reason for proposing the $8 million project is safety, said Vaught.

The north entrance ramp is shorter than it should be, ending at the bridge over the channel.

"If we extend this we should see fewer accidents in this area," Vaught said.

Moving the ramps further east and west would allow tractor-trailers more room to turn, she said.

"If you go out there now, you'll see how the guardrail looks crumpled," she said. "The trucks keep dinging it."

Other modifications would change the two-lane bridge over the channel into a three-lane bridge. This would include an acceleration lane for the northbound ramp exiting Route AB, Meyer said.

At first engineers had discussed widening the present bridge, Vaught said. But when the cost was calculated, they determined costs were equal for widening the old bridge or building a new bridge, she said.

Another project that MoDOT is planning to alleviate traffic congestion is widening of Route K, or Main Street, in Scott City to three lanes. The project will be presented at a public hearing from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sept. 21 at the Scott City City Hall. Proposals that were not accepted for an alternate route between Cape Girardeau and Scott City also will be available at the hearing.

This week MoDOT began to change traffic lights from time intervals to response sensors that monitor cars on Main Street, Vaught said.

"They haven't totally forgotten us," said Shirley Young, former mayor of Scott City. "If all we can get at this point is the turn lane, I'm glad."