Ramsey bridge decades in making

Scott City officials expect the project to ease traffic jams and attract new business development.

Traffic congestion usually isn't a problem for towns of 5,000 people, but usually doesn't apply to Scott City.

Nearly every morning and afternoon, the city sees the kind of bottleneck experienced in large metropolitan areas, and it has been that way for decades.

Cars line up along the city's Main Street, sometimes stretching for miles, waiting for their chance to get onto or off of Interstate 55.

With the kind of growth Scott City is now experiencing -- seven subdivisions are currently under construction in the city limits -- the traffic is getting worse.

"We're growing so fast that we're busting at that intersection," said city administrator Ron Eskew. "All that growth is going through that intersection."

If a large truck were to turn over at the interchange, as has happened in the past, it would "shut the town down," Eskew said. And many large trucks go through everyday to and from the Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Co. More will be on the way when Buchheit's moves in its trucking operation.

But the future holds hope for weary motorists.

Another avenue, called the Ramsey Creek Bridge, will exist in a few years that city leaders expect to relieve traffic congestion. They also say the new Ramsey Creek Bridge could lead to a development boon, potentially adding space for 35 new businesses, doubling the number of businesses already located at the industrial park.

The city council has discussed the bridge project since at least the late 1970s, when city leaders recognized the need for another point of access to the interstate after the old Highway 61 bridge was removed. But it wasn't until President Bush signed the federal highway bill last week that the concept became a promise.

Ward 4 Councilman Norman Brant has a long history on the city council, serving intermittently since the 1970s.

"Back then there was some discussion, but really not much action taken," said Brant.

The story of the Ramsey Creek bridge boils down to funding. At an estimated cost of more than $5 million, the project was not attainable with local money alone. Nor was that money available at the state level.

For decades the project took a back burner because of a lack of funds.

Eskew came on as the city administrator in Scott City in 2001, after working in the same position in Chaffee.

A new bridge over Ramsey Creek was one of the many options explored to relieve the congestion at the city's only access point to the interstate. City officials and the Missouri Department of Transportation had been working together for years to create some solution.

Several local and state entities -- MoDOT, Scott County, Illmo Special Road District, Scott City and the Delta Regional Authority -- all committed funds to help Scott City ease the bottleneck.

One early solution, creating a new access point to the Interstate on-ramp east of the current access point, was just "a Band-Aid," said Eskew. The project was the James Street access project, for which State Rep. Lanie Black helped secure $250,000 in state funds in 2003.

Those funds were followed closely by the other local funds.

But city officials knew the town's growth warranted a more permanent fix -- the Ramsey Creek Bridge. The James Street project was put aside in hopes of a bigger, better fix.

The funds already committed only totaled $600,000. Eskew and the Scott County Commission then approached Sen. Kit Bond, who was working on a federal highway bill. That was late last year.

"That was going to be the lion's share of the whole bridge project," Eskew said. "But we had to have the local commitment to help entice those federal funds."

When securing federal funds for local projects, it always looks better if local entities have shown a willingness to commit their own money. Having a senator who chairs the transportation committee also helps.

The commission helped set up a meeting between Bond and Scott City officials.

While Sen. Jim Talent and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson helped secure the funding, Bond was the key, said Eskew. Bond knew of the problems in Scott City, and he knew of MoDOT's concerns about the intersection.

When the senator visited Scott City to witness the congestion firsthand, that was the clincher, said Bond spokesperson Shana Stribling. Bond decided the project was important enough to insert into a $286.5 billion highway bill he co-authored.

Then the waiting began.

For nearly a year Eskew, Porch and the city council crossed their fingers. The bill came close to passing in 2004, but died in conference. Scott City officials had started to wonder if the funds would come through, knowing this might be the last chance to get federal money for the project in years.

When the president signed the bill last week, they were ecstatic.

Now community leaders are looking to the growth of the city. Chamber of Commerce president Paul Schock is excited about the prospects of opening an undeveloped area in the city limits to commercial development.

The bridge will make the area more development friendly and safer, he said.

More solutions to relieving congestion at I-55 are still being talked about, said MoDOT engineer Barry Horst, but those will depend on funding.

The Ramsey Creek Bridge is only one part of Scott City's vision of connecting to the larger metropolitan area that will include Cape Girardeau and Jackson, and probably even extend south of Scott City.

"This is just our part of the story," said Eskew.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182