New phase of Veterans Memorial Drive in Cape to begin next month

Construction of the next phase of Veterans Memorial Drive is slated to begin in October, a $2.3 million section that will create about a mile of roadway from LaSalle Avenue to Bainbridge Road.

But city officials say that's just one portion of a larger project that will eventually provide a 6 1/2-mile outer road for Interstate 55 that will ease traffic and create acres of prime property for commercial development.

"It's a huge project for us," Cape Girardeau Mayor Harry Rediger said. "It's really important, and each phase will enhance the total project."

The project seems scattershot, at least as far as the order in which the phases are being done. Phase four -- from Kingshighway to Scenic Drive -- was finished first earlier this year, and the work that starts next month is technically phase one.

The middle sections of the project, phases two and three, will likely be the last to be completed as they are yet unfunded. But Rediger said the plan calls for including those as part of future voter-approved Transportation Trust Fund projects.

The $3 million phase five, from Scenic Drive to Hopper Road, was approved by voters as part of TTF-4 last year and is included in that five-year list of projects. The already completed $1.3 million phase four was a part of the TTF-3 "pay as you go" package approved by voters in 2005.

"It was numbered before it ever got funded," interim city engineer David Whitaker said. "We've attacked it in the order of what we could do with the funds we had."

When completed, Veterans Memorial Drive's first five phases will take the roadway from LaSalle Avenue to Hopper Road. But city officials say the plan calls for it to be extended even farther south to William Street near Starbucks, which will require one or two more phases. Those would likely be included in future TTF proposals, officials said.

However, specific estimates about when the total project will be completed are impossible, Rediger said.

"It will probably be upward of 10 years before it's all done," Rediger said.

On Monday, the Cape Girardeau City Council took the next step forward with the project, authorizing city manager Scott Meyer to enter the city into a contract with Lappe Cement Finishing of Perryville, Mo., to do the phase one work.

Company president Randy Lappe said 15 to 20 men will work on the project daily to get the 5,000-foot phase done. They hope to get started in the next few weeks, he said, and the contract calls for completion in five months.

For the first 1,000 feet or so, Veterans Memorial Drive will be a 50-foot-wide, four-lane highway, he said, before it tapers off to two lanes with 12-foot-wide shoulders.

The work will also consist of construction of a concrete bridge, drainage systems, retaining walls, signing, pavement striping and traffic devices. Lappe will use several subcontractors for various aspects of the work, he said.

Lappe hopes his company will be hired for subsequent phases.

"If the work goes well, there's no reason we wouldn't be," he said.

As Rediger pointed out, phase one is the only phase that isn't being paid for with TTF dollars. But the bulk of the $2.3 million phase one won't come from city coffers. According to a city report, all but $276,130 is being paid for from two grants -- one federal and one state. If there are cost increases not covered by the grants, the city will be responsible for that, the report says.

The city's portion will come from the city's motor fuel tax fund, the pool of money the city collects from the state gasoline tax, state motor vehicle licensing fees and state motor vehicle sales tax. The revenue from that fund range from $300,000 to $350,000 a year.

The roadway will give drivers an alternative to driving on Interstate 55, officials said, which adds to safety. They also said it will open up undeveloped areas for commerce.

Two interchanges sit along the route of the new roadway -- the one commonly known as Center Junction and the one near LaSalle Avenue. John Mehner, president and CEO of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, said the new Veterans Memorial Drive will make those interchanges more desirable for new business.

"This will obviously add to the infrastructure that is necessary to make those more desirable development areas," Mehner said.

Midamerica Hotels owns about 72 acres near the path of the new roadway, said Bob Hahn, the company's vice president of development. He agreed with Mehner's assessment that the road would make nearby land better suited for development.

Hahn could envision new retail stores, restaurants and hotels going along a new Veterans Memorial Drive.

"There's no question when you have a road that will extend up to LaSalle someday, there has to be some advantage," Hahn said. "Obviously, a road is always a positive."

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Veterans Memorial Drive, Cape Girardeau, MO