P and Z stuck on Fountain Street project

Cape Girardeau's planning and zoning commission remains stuck in debate over the proposed design for extending Fountain Street and how much it would cost to build.

Smith & Co., a Poplar Bluff, Mo., engineering firm, estimates it would cost more than $1.23 million to build a decorative, divided boulevard with a brick-paved roadway and roundabouts at three downtown intersections. In contrast, it would cost an estimated $774,000 to construct a standard 40-feet-wide concrete street with no roundabouts.

But commissioners said Wednesday night that the latest cost estimates don't include the cost of buying the right of way needed to build two blocks of street from Morgan Oak Street to William Street.

"We're still sitting here and we have no idea of what it will cost," said commissioner Raymond Buhs.

Commissioners said they want solid cost figures before deciding which of the design plans to back. "I think we need to be accountable to the taxpayers," Buhs said.

City planner Kent Bratton said the city will have to acquire some land regardless of the design. He estimated that as many as two houses might have to be purchased to make room for the street. The route is expected to largely follow an abandoned railroad bed.

Buhs expressed concern about the high cost of building a 1,300-foot-long street. "It's a pretty high-dollar street," he said.

The continuing discussion hasn't held up the project, Bratton said after the meeting. That's because the Fountain Street extension project is expected to be included in a list of projects that would be financed if voters next August extend the city's transportation sales tax for another five years.

Without such funding, Bratton said the city doesn't have the money to build the street.

The project would extend Fountain which currently connects Highway 74 to Morgan Oak and serves as an entrance to the downtown from the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.

In other action, the commission denied a request for a special-use permit to construct a new child-care center on the northwest corner of Mount Auburn Road and Old Hopper Road. Neighbors, police and commissioners all expressed concern that such a development would pose a traffic safety problem and lead to traffic accidents at that intersection.

The commission last month turned down the same project. But the city council referred the issue back to the planning commission when it appeared the proposed development plans might have changed.

But the developer didn't attend Wednesday's commission meeting and neighbors said no change in plans could alleviate the traffic concerns.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123