PETITIONS SEEK SIGNAL AT JACKSON INTERSECTION

JACKSON -- The city of Jackson wants the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department to install traffic signals at the intersection of Donna Drive and Highway 61 East.

The request has been made to the department's District 10 office at Sikeston, said Jackson city officials.

This week, petitions with the names of 2,357 people were turned over to Jackson City Administrator Carl Tally. The petitions will be presented to the Jackson Board of Aldermen May 6, and copies will be sent to the highway department in Jefferson City.

The proposal is backed by the city administration, police department and retail stores and businesses along the highway, which the city now calls East Jackson Boulevard.

City officials said the volume of traffic has increased on the highway since it was widened to five lanes. They said the additional traffic on East Jackson makes it difficult and hazardous for motorists to enter or leave retail businesses on either side of the highway.

Last year, 397 vehicle accidents occurred in Jackson. City police said about one-third of them, or 102 accidents, occurred along East Jackson Boulevard. Jackson Police Chief Larry Koenig said there now is more traffic along East Jackson than anywhere in town.

Said Koenig: "It's especially bad in the early morning and late-afternoon and early evening hours, and on the weekends during shopping hours. We also have a lot of residential traffic that uses Donna Drive and Greenway to get to the highway, and there is also traffic coming out from the Kimbeland Golf Course."

Koenig said speed is not a contributor to the traffic problem.

"We've been doing a lot of (speed) enforcement out on East Jackson since it was improved to five lanes," he said. "The speed limit is just about right for that stretch of highway; if it's any lower, traffic would back up and drivers would get impatient."

The speed limit is 35 mph.

Koenig and Tally said the number of signatures on the petitions shows there is widespread community support for traffic signals.

"We got these names in less than 30 days," said Tally. "We've also had a lot of support from the businesses and stores along East Jackson."

Koenig said that before the highway was widened police officers investigated mostly rear-end accidents resulting from motorists stopping in one lane to turn left or right off of the highway.

Koenig said the major traffic hazard now is slow-moving traffic pulling out from Donna, Greenway and private parking lots into the path of East Jackson traffic. The result are collisions, some of which have resulted in injuries to people.

"So far we haven't had any fatalities out there, " Koenig said.

Tally said the flow of through traffic on East Jackson must be broken to allow traffic to enter the highway safely. He said traffic signals at Donna and East Jackson would be the best way to accomplish that.

Koenig said, however, the traffic signals at East Jackson and Shawnee would not resolve the problem.

A spokesman for the highway department at Sikeston said a new traffic study probably will be needed to determine the volume of traffic on East Jackson and the surrounding area since it has been widened to five lanes.

The spokesman, Mike Perry, said, "We'll look at past traffic studies and probably do a new one, which would take about three to four weeks, if it's done by our local people."

Perry said the studies would indicate the number of vehicles on the highway at different times of the day and week and the number of turns on and off the highway in the area.

"First we have to find out if it's really needed," Perry said. "There has to be a clear need for the signals. If the study indicates signals are needed at the location, there are several ways the project can be funded."

If the project is funded entirely with state money, Perry said it would have to compete with similar projects in the district.

As another option, the project could be partially funded by businesses or developers in the area the signals would be installed. As an example, Perry mentioned traffic signals at Route K and St. Francis Drive in Cape Girardeau; major funding for the signals was provided by May Co., which owns West Park Mall.

"We have also participated in signal projects in the district where Wal-Mart or other businesses or developers shared the cost of installing traffic signals," he said. "In other cases, cities have used some of their FAU (Federal Aid Urban) funds to help pay for the signals."