OFFICIALS TO UPGRADE CORRIDOR IN AREA

State highway officials will interview four consulting firms as a step to decide where to upgrade Highways 25, 34 and 72 in the Cape Girardeau and Jackson area.

Major improvements in the three highways are included in the state's 15-year road plan.

Although the plan doesn't include widening the highways to four lanes, it does provide for enough right of way to widen the highways in the future.

District 10 Highway Engineer Freeman McCullah said the department is taking a unique approach to the projects by studying them together, rather than individually.

"By the way they come into Cape and Jackson, it is better to consider them together," McCullah said.

The study will take into account those routes as they come from Van Buren for Highway 34, Dexter for Highway 25 and Fredericktown for Highway 72, and how they interplay with projects already under way in the area, such as Cape Girardeau's new Mississippi River bridge route, Nash Road in Scott City, the Southeast Missouri Regional Port, and growth in Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

The project will be more than a highway location study. McCullah said it real resemble a "major thoroughfare plan" for the cities.

In developing a plan, the consulting firm will spend about 18 months to seek public input, study growth patterns, meet with area officials and business leaders, and assess environmental concerns.

The study will be done in close cooperation with state highway officials to reach a consensus on where the route can go to ensure its next phase of construction can proceed.

Once the route design from Cape Girardeau and Jackson is determined, the remaining sections of the three highways will be designed separately.

McCullah said he wants the public involved so it understands why the highway is "where it is."

Cape Girardeau City Manager J. Ronald Fischer and Jackson City Administrator Carl Talley said they look forward to talking with the consultant.

Both cities have street plans that could be affected by decisions on highway corridors.

The sooner corridors are decided, the sooner the cities can complete long-range planning and move forward.

"We've got some definite ideas on what could be done," Fischer said. "We are delighted they are getting started on this."

Fischer said Cape Girardeau is particularly interested in route selection so it can plan street development in areas west of I-55.

"With the amount of traffic on Bloomfield west of I-55 and the development of that area, certainly an extension of Highway 74 to the west would be a very important thing for the city," he said.

Talley said Jackson officials are "up to speed" and "waiting to go."

Talley added that the road plan will bring big benefits to Cape Girardeau County.

Consultants invited to submit proposals were: Environmental Science and Engineering of St. Louis; Sverdrup Civil Inc. of Maryland Heights; Booker & Associates of St. Louis; and Harland Bartholomew and Associates of Chesterfield.

McCullah and a team from the Jefferson City office, including his two District 10 Engineer predecessors, Bob Sfreddo, a design engineer, and Al Lafoon, the bridge engineer, will interview the consultants.

McCullah said the firms were specifically chosen because of their ability to do this kind of work.

"What we are interviewing for is how they will handle the job," he said, adding that a firm could be chosen Friday and be under contract before the year's end.

"The whole process will be a very visible process, with a lot of maps and ideas and opportunities for people to express a lot of ideas," McCullah said.

Construction of the segments of the three highways in the Cape-Jackson area is scheduled to start in six or seven years, based on present financing and programming.

But McCullah said once the highway corridor is determined, there will be a demand for it to be completed, which could move it along faster.