MoDOT to discuss widening of Highway 72 with public

The Missouri Department of Transportation is providing information at a public meeting today on plans to improve the winding and aging Highway 72 in Bollinger and Madison counties.

The meeting will be from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Meadow Heights High School cafeteria, on Highway 72 in Patton, Mo.

"The meeting will be conducted in an open-house format in which the public will have the opportunity to visit one-on-one with members of our project team whenever it is convenient for them to stop in," said MoDOT project manager Tim Richmond.

MoDOT has plans to widen the 11-foot lanes to 12 feet and create 6 feet of paved shoulders from east of Castor River in Madison County to a half-mile west of Highway 51 in Bollinger County.

"There will also be some realignment done to straighten some of the curves on that highway," said Jeff Wachter, transportation project designer for MoDOT. He said MoDOT may need to acquire some right of way, usually 5 to 10 feet, from property owners.

This section of the Highway 72 improvement project is expected to begin late 2006.

Wachter said motorists can expect some minor inconveniences and may be restricted to one lane during construction.

Meadow Heights superintendent Victor Martin said the improvements are needed for safety issues.

"I think it will help by taking out some of the curves and if they do anything to improve the intersection at Highway 51 and 72, it will certainly help with safety," Martin said. "That is a very dangerous intersection and about two-thirds of our school buses go through that intersection on a daily basis."

Martin said the problem with the intersection is that there is a stop sign on Highway 51 but not on 72, something motorists unfamiliar with the area don't notice.

"There are people on 51 that assume 72 has to stop," he said. "There is also a very short line of sight right at that intersection. In the past few years there have been numerous accidents and in one case, someone died."

Wachter said MoDOT plans to level the Highway 51 and 72 intersection sometime next year.

"When we're done, the intersection should be flatter and that will make it easier to see," he said. "The work will basically double the sight distance."

In all, 10 projects are in various planning stages to improve Highway 72 from Fredericktown to Highway 34 in Cape Girardeau County, Richmond said. Tonight's meeting will focus specifically on Highway 72 from Castor River to Highway 51.

The entire improvements to Highway 72 are estimated to cost $6.5 million to $8 million and will be funded through MoDOT's Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, Wachter said. The completion date is tentatively scheduled for 2011.

For more information, call MoDOT's Southeast District office in Sikeston at (573) 472-5290.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

Want to go?

• Who: Missouri Department of Transportation

* What: Public meeting on Highway 72 improvements

* Where: Meadow Heights High School cafeteria

* When: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. today