Road plan to close part of Bloomfield; residents unhappy

~ The conventional approach -- working one lane at a time -- would take longer and be more expensive, the city engineer said.

Cape Girardeau city officials plan to close a section of Bloomfield Road west of Interstate 55 for about three months next year so the street can be widened and a sidewalk added.

But nearby residents say closing the road will force them to make a lengthy and inconvenient detour to travel east into the city. Some residents live only five minutes from the Wal-Mart store. If the street is closed, it could take them half an hour to drive over county roads and Route K to get to the store, they say.

"It is ridiculous. I had no idea they would do that," said Beatrice Margrabe, who lives in the Stonebridge subdivision on the south side of Bloomfield Road.

"This is going to make it hard on all of us," she said. "I think there will be a lot of people mad about it."

City officials plan to hold a public meeting on Dec. 21 to explain the estimated $1.3 million project to property owners and the public. It is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Osage Community Centre.

City engineer Jay Stencel said the city plans to notify about 170 property owners by mail of the meeting.

Closing Bloomfield Road from Siemers Drive to Stonebridge Drive during construction will allow the work to be completed sooner and at less cost, Stencel said.

The city hopes to bid the project in January. Construction could begin by March and be completed by the end of May, the city engineer said.

The more conventional approach -- working on one side of the road and then the other to allow for one lane of traffic to proceed -- could add up to three months to the construction schedule and increases costs by about $200,000, he said.

But residents like Lois Farris, a neighbor of Margrabe's, aren't worried about the cost.

"It is such an inconvenience to taxpayers out here," Farris said of the planned road closure. "I would prefer they would leave one lane open for us."

The Stonebridge subdivision has some 40 duplexes. Some residents own their units. Others rent them. Some 100 people live in the subdivision, Farris said.

Many of the residents are elderly, she said.

Closing the road for three months would put residents at risk in case of a fire or medical emergency, Farris said.

If the road's closed for construction, firetrucks and ambulances would have to go west on Route K and then south on Benton Hill Road and then head back east on Bloomfield Road to reach the subdivision, she said.

"I would think the city should consider that," Farris said.

In addition, it will pose a hardship on residents who live outside of Cape Girardeau and use Bloomfield Road to travel to work, she said.

"All during the day, there is through traffic on the road," Farris said.

Stencel said it also will mean a longer trip for school buses picking up children who live in that area.

But Stencel said city officials already have talked to Cape Girardeau School District officials about changing the bus route.

Children in the Bloomfield Road neighborhood still will be able to ride school buses, the city engineer said.

The city plans to widen this approximately half-mile-long section of Bloomfield Road to 32 feet with curb and gutter, and add a 4-foot-wide sidewalk along the north side of the road.

City officials initially wanted to widen the street to 36 feet and construct a 6-foot-wide sidewalk. But the project was scaled back to reduce the amount of right of way required, Stencel said.

"It is not as ideal," he said of the scaled-back project. But he said it still will be a a major improvement over the current, two-lane asphalt roadway.

It is about 22 feet wide at most and has no curb and gutter.

The improved street will be paved with concrete and some of the curves will be realigned, Stencel said.

The city plans to pay for the project with transportation sales tax money.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123