More traffic, building improvements since Broadway corridor completion

This time last year, dust and the sound of jackhammers filled the air. Groups of men in hard hats and neon green shirts worked their way along each block, laying brick, building flower beds and running lines to lights above the street.

Things since have quieted down. There are no more detours, no more blocked entrances to downtown businesses, and Broadway is noticeably changing, sometimes by the day. It's much better than it was, some say.

At 818 Broadway, inside a former cafe, Rob Foeste, along with family and friends, took a break from preparations Saturday for some pizza at lunchtime. Broadway Biergarten, Foeste's restaurant and bar, will open within weeks.

The front of the building is undergoing a face-lift -- work to remove and replace tiles under the large windows was one weekend project. Soon the facade will look as fresh as the streetscape outside, with its new benches, bike racks, trees and flowers, promenade sidewalk and bricked parking that extends along Broadway from Pacific Street to Main Street.

"The way the street looks now is one of the reasons I was interested in getting this place," Foeste said.

He bought the building in February and has since seen Broadway come into full bloom for the first time as the warmer weather has taken hold.

"It looks really good out there," he said. "And I have seen a lot more people around, on foot and driving. It's a busier street now."

Foeste is not alone in taking advantage of Broadway's new draw, brought on by about $4.7 million the city spent improving the corridor last year through this past April.

Lisa Bertrand, who owns the downtown antique store Spanish Street Mercantile with her husband Charles, recently expanded their trade to a building at 609 Broadway that once housed a pharmacy. The couple's plans last summer were to buy and remove large, old wooden cabinets that line the building's interior for use in their Spanish Street store, but Lisa Bertrand said reconsideration was taken when the street out front was under construction.

"We saw an opportunity," she said. "We noticed other buildings were being improved along here, and we thought it could be the opposite of when you have broken window syndrome. You know, one house has a broken window, and so it's OK for the one next door. Well, we thought, if we can turn this one around, hopefully we can be part of the inspiration for more improvement."

The Bertrands bought the building, and called their new venture Broadway Market & Loft. The bottom floor is an antique store. The upstairs was renovated into a short-term rental apartment.

Lisa Bertrand said the loft has brought out-of-towners and locals to spend time downtown. Parents of Southeast Missouri State University students are frequent guests. This weekend, a Jackson couple is staying there as a weekend getaway.

Many buildings along Broadway look different these days. Facade improvements have taken hold -- helped in part by a loan program through the downtown organization Old Town Cape. Others took it upon themselves when their neighbors began sprucing things up.

Marla Mills, executive director of the organization, said the new streetscape has produced "a domino effect of improvements along the corridor."

"I think the streetscape really did start something positive that we are seeing now," Mills said, "I see the businesses and the property owners taking a lot more pride in their surroundings and their buildings. And we've had a lot more activity as far as business development, so I think that the project has spurred a lot of interest."

Mills and business owners say they have seen an uptick in pedestrians using the street, as well as more vehicle traffic.

City engineer Casey Brunke said the city expects it soon will receive the results of a traffic count study from the Missouri Department of Transportation, which should give a good indicator of the increased activity along the corridor helped by the streetscape and business development, along with the opening of Isle Casino Cape Girardeau.

MoDOT conducts the study every three years. The most recent study, before the corridor improvements in 2010, showed daily traffic counts at the intersection of Pacific Street and Broadway to be from 8,000 to near 16,000 vehicles. Farther to the east, near the intersection of Fountain Street and Broadway, the range fell between 3,500 and 8,000 vehicles daily.

Another traffic count conducted by the city's public works department in October showed 19,000 vehicles traveled Broadway at the Spanish Street intersection within a four-day period. The study was conducted before the opening of the casino.

The city has no plans to conduct a pedestrian traffic study, but Brunke, who said she drives the street as often as she can to check on progress, has noticed more people out and about.

"I really do see more people using it than before the project was done," she said. "They are seeing it as a friendlier, safer, more welcoming area."

The improvements to Broadway were funded by the voter-approved Transportation Trust Fund and a contribution from the casino.

The new Broadway opened entirely to traffic the second week of October. Parking spaces, limited by parking no longer being allowed on the street's north side because of the creation of a promenade sidewalk, at first left some business owners disenchanted with the project. The city has since entered several lot-sharing agreements with property owners that make more room for public parking, and have increased the amount of public parking along Broadway than was available before the project.

Bertrand said she believes the parking situation now satisfies most Broadway business owners -- and she added that another part of the city's effort to spruce up the area also is beneficial.

"I have noticed they are especially good about keeping the street clean and taking care of the landscaping," she said.

A group attempting to form a community improvement district and the city are working toward a long-term plan for keeping the street clean and landscaping upkeep if voters have the chance to decide whether to create the taxing district.

A steering committee for the community improvement district continues to work toward establishing a new sales and property tax district downtown that would pay for maintenance and enhancements of the area. About half of the funds that could be raised annually through the district would go toward litter control, landscaping and other improvements. The remainder would be directed toward increased security, promotion and special event planning and professional services for reports and audits.

Signatures from property owners on petitions being circulated by the committee, a go-ahead from the city council and the passage of a tax proposal through voter approval would be required to create and use benefits from the district.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

Broadway and North Pacific Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Broadway and North Main Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

609 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

818 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.