MoDOT to undertake resurfacing project

~ The project is scheduled to begin Monday below the Center Junction overpass.

Motorists traveling on U.S. 61 through Cape Girardeau and Jackson can expect a road free of potholes and brighter striping by the end of the year.

Next week the Missouri Department of Transportation will begin a 10-mile long resurfacing project from south Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau to the Highway 25 in Jackson. Work is expected to begin at 6 p.m. Monday below the Interchange 55 overpass at Center Junction.

During the resurfacing work, motorists should be alert for lane reductions and closures, said MoDOT senior construction inspector Rick Lamb. Entrances and side roads will also be closed for approximately three hours while paving operations are carried out adjacent to them.

Lamb said crews will work on the project throughout the night, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., to minimize inconveniences.

The $3.2 million project is part of MoDOT's smooth roads initiative. Lamb said the project is possible from additional funds Amendment 3 has generated. "This is a bigger scale project than what we usually do. Normally we resurface sections of Route 61 as it's needed," he said.

Before MoDOT begins resurfacing Kingshighway, the city of Cape Girardeau is preparing the intersection at Independence Street and Kingshighway for additional east and west left-hand turn lanes. "The city wanted to be proactive and get the initial work done before MoDOT comes in to start its work," said traffic operations engineer Kelly Green.

Traffic signal islands have been trimmed down to widen Independence Street for the additional lanes, and underground work for new traffic signals is complete. "It's going to be down the road before the additional turn lanes are operating," Green said.

The city of Jackson doesn't have plans to work on any of its intersections along U.S. 61 before MoDOT begins the resurfacing project. Public works director Rodney Bollinger said the city improved East Jackson Boulevard intersections at Donna Drive and Shawnee Boulevard about two years ago.

Once East Jackson Boulevard from Center Junction to the city's police station is paved, and when MoDOT completes the Route 34/72 widening project, Jackson will have a new asphalt surface on the city's most heavily traveled road.

"That road has held up well over the years, but there are some rough spots," Bollinger said. "It's going to be real nice to have both East and West Jackson Boulevard with a brand new, smooth surface."

Crews with Apex Paving Co. should wrap up Scott City's Main Street resurfacing project today, and will move on to U.S. 61 next week. "So much of what we do is dependent on the weather that it is very difficult to say in advance when the next project will begin," Lamb said.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246