P&Z CONSIDERS NEW PLAN FOR HIGHWAY 34-72

The Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission wants the state to reconsider a possible corridor for the new Highway 34-72 improvement.

Planners from the Missouri Department of Transportation and QST Infrastructure Inc., consultants for the project, met with commissioners Wednesday night to discuss their plans.

The state is considering improving the Highway 34-72 route to ease congestion between Jackson and Cape Girardeau.

A plan now under consideration would route the new highway along Route K into its intersection with Interstate 55.

A single-point diamond intersection, which would require widening the Route K bridge, would ease the congestion caused by the additional traffic coming into the city, said Ray Steege, project manager for QST.

But commissioners want the state to consider instead running Highway 34-72 south from Route K to connect with the new Highway 74 interchange and avoid the Route K-I-55 interchange altogether.

R.J. McKinney, chairman of the commission, said he doesn't think the Route K-I-55 interchange will be able to handle the additional traffic. He said he thinks the interchange is already at capacity.

Taking the southern route would ease traffic along Route K and along side streets like Mount Auburn Road and Siemers Drive, he said, and would facilitate development along that corridor.

DawnRae Clark Fuller, project manager for MoDOT, said the suggestion will be taken under consideration.

In other action, the commission voted to recommend a special use permit to allow an insurance office with a sign in Lorberg Funeral Chapel Inc., 829 N. West End Boulevard.