Plans call for adding signals on Independence Street

Cape Girardeau city officials want to install traffic signals and make other improvements to ease traffic congestion on Independence Street east and west of the Kingshighway intersection.

Plans call for placing traffic signals at the Independence Street and Clark Avenue/eastern entrance to Walmart Neighborhood Market intersection, and on Independence Street between the Gordonville Road roundabout and Kingshighway, city engineer Casey Brunke said Monday.

Brunke said she did not have the plans in front of her to identify the intersection that would be signalized west of Kingshighway.

Under the plan, the Independence/Kingshighway intersection would be widened to allow for two through-lanes on Independence Street, she said.

A median also would be installed along parts of Independence Street, west and east of the Kingshighway intersection.

City staff and a consulting firm came up with the plan, one of several options considered.

An open-house-style public meeting on the project will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. today in the city council chambers at city hall. Members of the city staff and the consulting firm will be on hand to explain the concepts. Members of the public will be able to view the �concepts� and talk one-on-one with the project team, the city stated on its website.

�We are going to present a preferred option,� Brunke said. �What we are proposing is not crazy.�

The possibility of constructing a roundabout in the vicinity of the Clark Avenue intersection was considered. The consultant and city staff, however, concluded a roundabout would not be a feasible solution in that area, Brunke said.

The city hired Lochmueller Group of St. Louis at a cost of nearly $110,000 to do a traffic study and come up with recommendations on how to address the traffic problem.

The traffic study assessed traffic flow, vehicle movement conflicts and crash history along the congested route.

While the study looked at Independence Street from the Gordonville roundabout to Sunset Boulevard, proposed improvements focus on the heavily traveled section of Independence Street near Kingshighway, Brunke said.

City engineering staff and the consultant have said much of the congestion is associated with customers entering and exiting businesses, including the Aldi grocery store and Walmart Neighborhood Market.

City officials have estimated the transportation trust fund project could cost about $3.4 million, which includes planning and construction costs.

Construction could begin in 2020, Brunke said earlier this year.

Cape Girardeau voters approved the project when they extended the transportation sales tax in 2015.

Voters agreed to spend tax dollars on a traffic study and implement recommendations from that study, Brunke told the Southeast Missourian in May.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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