Property owners propose transportation development district on N. Kingshighway

A group of property owners along North Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau want to make it easier for people to access their businesses and hope to form a transportation development district, or TDD, to do so.

A petition to create the North Kingshighway Transportation Development District has been submitted to Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court. A public hearing about the district — including its purpose and its funding — has been scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Aug. 3 at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson before Circuit Court Judge Benjamin Lewis.

If approved by the court, the district plans to work with the Missouri Department of Transportation to add traffic signals on North Kingshighway, also known as U.S. 61, where it intersects with Destination Boulevard, the entrance to businesses in the North Pointe Center.

This aerial view shows the boundary (in red) of the proposed North Kingshighway Transportation Development District in Cape Girardeau. The intersection of North Kingshighway and Lexington Avenue is shown in the lower left, while Kingshighway runs along the left side of the image.Submitted

Adding a signal, TDD petitioners say, will make it easier for traffic leaving the North Pointe area to turn left onto Kingshighway, especially during certain times of day when traffic volumes on Kingshighway are heaviest.

In addition to signals at the North Pointe Center entrance, the TDD proposal includes plans for street construction, which the property owners believe would eventually lead to future commercial developments.

Cost of the proposed TDD plan is estimated at just over $1.8 million and would be funded through a 1% tax on retail sales within the district.

The proposed TDD extends and includes almost all properties on the east side of Kingshighway from Lexington Avenue north to, and including, Seis Amigos Mexican restaurant, 1832 N. Kingshighway.

Owners of the Sonic Drive-In property, 1764 N. Kingshighway, elected not to participate in the TDD. As a result, that tract has been carved out of the district.

To date, there have been two other TDD projects in Cape Girardeau. The Midamerica Crossing Transportation District, established in late 2016, is providing funding for street construction and other improvements on an 83-acre tract between the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex and the Missouri Veterans Home near the junction of U.S. 61 and Interstate 55.

On a much smaller scale, a TDD funding mechanism was also used to create a right-turn entrance and exit point between William Street (Route K) and the Hobby Lobby parking lot.

“A TDD is one of the tools available to property owners in the city that helps them accomplish improvements that benefit the city as a whole,” said Molly Mehner, Cape Girardeau’s assistant city manager. She said the North Kingshighway TDD project will not only improve traffic flow in the North Pointe area, but could also foster additional development within the district.

A legal notice appears in today’s edition of the Southeast Missourian and will be published in the Missourian three additional times before the Aug. 3 hearing.

Property owners listed in the TDD formation petition are North Pointe Center LLC; Phegley Farms Inc.; Cai Investment LLC; Immediate Convenient Care LLC; First Midwest Bank of Dexter; dROCK LLC; J.Patrick O’Loughlin, Trustee of the J. Patrick O’Loughlin Revocable Trust; Tom K. and Teresa R. O’Loughlin; Cook Investments Inc.; and S.L.S. Clearing Inc.

North Pointe Center LLC and dROCK LLC are sister entities of Rust Communications, parent company of the Southeast Missourian.

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