OAK RIDGE, JACKSON OFFER VIEWS ON I-55 INTERCHANGE

Jackson Mayor Paul Sander isn't opposed to a new Interstate 55 interchange at Oak Ridge, he just wants one for Jackson.

Oak Ridge City Board Chairman Don Stahlheber wants an Oak Ridge interchange.

While Sander prefers both sites get interchanges, he thinks the traffic use of a Jackson interchange would be "much higher."

But, Stahlheber says, Oak Ridge was in the original plan for an interstate exit.

"We have been waiting 30 years," he said. "And, two years ago when I met with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, I was assured that Oak Ridge was on the current 15-year plan."

If the state has enough money to proceed with just one new interchange, it should be at Oak Ridge, he said, adding: "I would think the highway commission would have a hard time bumping Jackson ahead of us."

Stahlheber said Jackson already had two interchanges and they are only five miles apart.

The problem is the highway commission has asked the Cape Girardeau County Commission to choose between the two towns for an interchange.

The county's presiding commissioner, Gerald Jones, said the highway commission wanted that decision Tuesday, but county officials wanted more time for traffic counts, economic impact and other related issues.

And, county officials think the interchange decision should be made by highway officials.

In fact, the county commission has written letters of support for both towns to receive an interchange -- in 1990 for Oak Ridge and in 1994 for Jackson. Neither letter expressed a desire of one over the other.

"There is no way we could support one over the other before we obtain all the traffic projections and economic date," Jones said, adding that when the information is in, the county board would hold hearings on the two sites.

District 10 highway manager Jim Murray said traffic projections at the two sites for the year 2000 project 1,900 cars a day for the Oak Ridge interchange at Route E and 5,000 cars at the East Main Street interchange at Jackson.

But interchanges at both sites would be beneficial to their cities.

Oak Ridge School Superintendent Roger Tatum said the Route E interchange would help the school and the community and "would certainly be a safety factor for the school." The school's athletic teams play a lot of others school up and down the interstate.

A new interchange will also play a big role in the future growth of the area, Tatum said.

Jackson has planned its extension of East Main Street for a number of years and during the past two years have started work on Phase I of the project.

The first phase will push East Main to the city limits, Sander said, and Phase II will carry the project to the Interstate.

Sander said the East Main Street interchange would be halfway between the Fruitland exchange and the current Jackson-Cape Girardeau exchange at the 99 mile marker.

Jackson city officials have met with highway commission officials over the past two years.

"We told the commission that we were willing to do what is necessary to obtain the new interchange," Sander said. "They wanted us to show intent, and we're doing that. We have already spent a lot of money on the Main Street extension."

Phase I is a two-year project, and Phase II is a longer-range plan that would entail some land acquisition, he said.

"We're in a wait-and-see situation," Sander said. "Now, we need a decision on the interchange so we determine" what to do on Phase II.

Murray, too, wants a decision.

"We would like an answer as soon as possible," he said. "But, we understand that the county commission needs more time."