PARK BOARD, OTHERS QUESTION TRAIL PLANS

Proponents of the recreational trail portion of the Cape LaCroix Creek flood-control project have again raised concerns that the trail is being compromised.

Ken Eftink, Cape Girardeau's planning services coordinator, Monday presented an update on the flood-control project at a Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting.

Eftink said work on the trail portion of the project is proceeding as planned and likely will be completed from Independence Street to just south of Bloomfield Road later this summer.

But park board members and other people interested in the trail questioned why the hiking and biking path is narrowed at underpasses at Independence and Route K.

The eight-foot-wide asphalt trail narrows to a six-foot concrete path at the underpasses. Several park board members said they were unaware that plans had ever been changed to narrow the trail.

"When did the underpasses change from being eight-to-10 feet wide to six feet?" asked board member Jay Crosnoe. "I definitely remember sitting in meetings where we were told it would be eight-to-10 feet wide.

"What I hate to see is, we're told something here and then when it's done it's something different."

Proponents of the trail have fought to include in the flood-control project other aspects of the trail cut by the Corps of Engineers. The underpasses were added after the proponents of the trail complained that safety was being compromised to cut costs.

Eric Gooden owns Cape Bicycle and has kept a close eye on the trail's progress since it was conceived as part of a city campaign to amass public support for a sales tax to fund the flood-control work. He said Monday the six-foot trail is too narrow, particularly at the Independence underpass, where the path curves.

"Six feet is real marginal, especially on the curve under Independence," Gooden said. "It's going to be dead man's curve on Independence."

Park board members also said they thought the trail would be dangerous at that width. The board's consensus was to recommend the city staff work to assure other underpasses planned for the project are wider.

Gooden said he was told earlier that the width of the trails at the underpasses was restricted because of engineering concerns. But, he added, there appears to be ample room beneath both Independence and Route K bridges for an additional two feet of trail width.

Board member Mike Kohlfeld said he agreed that there appears to be enough room to widen the paths.

"You walk through there and there's three to four feet of backfill," he said. "If you widen the trail a foot or two, it's just two feet less of backfill. That's almost a no-brainer."

But Eftink said the Corps, which is building the trail at the underpasses, previously had planned for pedestrian crossings at the busy streets.

"We've come a long way already," Eftink said. "We do have underpasses now, and we do have an eight-foot asphalt trail. We've always told them we want the trail as wide as possible, and we'll continue to tell them that."

The park board asked Eftink to try to set up a special meeting with Corps officials to discuss the trail portion of the flood-control work. The board also wanted to discuss plans for the Walker Branch portion of the flood-control project.

A recreational trail along Walker Branch was dropped from the initial plan, but Eftink said the matter still isn't completely resolved.

He said the entire trail along Cape LaCroix Creek, from Shawnee Park to a detention site north of the city, should be completed in 1995. The trail from Arena Park to Shawnee Park via a connection through Brink Street south of Bloomfield Road should be completed by this time next year, Eftink said.

The board also recommended that the city proceed with engineering and right-of-way acquisition to extend the trail from where it now ends at Independence, through Arena Park to Hopper Road.

Gooden asked that the city and Corps consider an underpass at Broadway for Walker Branch that could be used if a trail is eventually built there.

But Eftink said that each time something is added to the project to increase its cost, other aspects of the trail are jeopardized. He said the cost of constructing the trail is about $25,000 per mile, which doesn't include right-of-way acquisition.

"We're talking about limited funding," Eftink said. "Flood prevention is the main priority, and after that we'll do as much as we can."

But Crosnoe and other board members said that voters approved the sales tax needed for the city's share of the project's cost in large part because of its recreational trail features.

"We need to make sure we're doing it right from the front end so that we don't end up with something that's not safe to use when it's done," said Crosnoe.

In other business, Dennis Stroughmatt a student studying historic preservation at Southeast Missouri State University presented the board with a report he compiled on the condition of Fort D.

Stroughmatt said the fort is in poor condition and wasn't restored accurately and properly in 1933. He offered suggestions to research, survey and possibly excavate the site to more accurately recreate the fort site to give it historical importance. The board took no action on the report.