MoDOT taking input on proposal to improve Hwy. 51 intersection

PATTON, Mo. -- On Tuesday, the Missouri Department of Transportation will hold an open house at its Patton maintenance facility. But instead of the building being the main attraction, MoDOT will show off improvement plans and field public inquiries regarding the nearby intersection of highways 72 and 51 in Bollinger County.

The two-way stop at that intersection has long been a point of concern for local motorists because of limited sight distance for drivers on Highway 51 trying to cross or turn onto Highway 72.

According to area resident Dennis Mouser, when cars heading north or south on Highway 51 stop at that intersection, they basically dodge cars to cross.

"This has been needed for a long time," said Mouser, who runs Mouser Steel Supply Inc., just a quarter-mile east of the intersection on Highway 72. He said the intersection has been the site of several accidents in recent years.

The problems, he said, are drivers on Highway 51 not realizing it is only a two-way stop and a simple lack of sight lines to see oncoming vehicles for those who do stop.

Mouser's concern is not unique. MoDOT transportation project designer Jeff Wachter said that the public was so outspoken about the danger of the intersection at earlier public meetings, the timetable for this project was moved up.

MoDOT's plan is to flatten the intersection by cutting through a hill to the west and filling in a hole to the east to accommodate a straighter approach to Highway 72 to the intersection. Wachter said that will improve the sight distance in both directions at the intersection. The project will also include paved shoulders on Highway 72 on both sides of the intersection and is tentatively scheduled for spring 2006.

It will coincide with the beginning of a larger MoDOT effort to improve Highway 72 from Fredericktown all the way to the intersection with Highway 34 in Cape Girardeau County.

Details of the plans will be on display at the meeting Tuesday. The format of the meeting will provide the public with a chance to look over the plans, visit one on one with members of the MoDOT project team and voice their concerns between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. The Patton facility is on Highway 72 about a quarter-mile east of Highway 51.

trehagen@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137