ROUTE 74 DEDICATION NEXT WEEK

New Highway 74 from Kingshighway to Interstate 55 will officially open Oct. 17.

City officials, members of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee and representatives of the Missouri Department of Transportation will gather at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 17, for a ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony at the Silver Springs Road intersection with the new highway, which is called Shawnee Parkway.

The milelong, newest section of the route, which eventually will link Interstate 55 with the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge being built across the Mississippi River, completes Route 74 from the interstate to Sprigg Street.

"This is great," said John Mehner, president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce. "We're dedicating the completion of the Nash Road extension from Interstate 55 to the Southeast Missouri Regional Port (today), and the opening of Shawnee Parkway next Friday."

The 1.7-mile Sprigg-to-Kingshighway section of Route 74 opened in February 1996, with little fanfare.

The Oct. 17 dedication will be for the entire distance, from Sprigg to the interstate, said Angie Wilson of the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Motorists traveling Highway 74 from Sprigg to the interstate will encounter only four intersections at the present time: West End Boulevard, Kingshighway, Silver Springs Road and Mount Auburn Road. A Lorimier Street connection for downtown Cape Girardeau is scheduled in connection with completion of the river bridge.

Work on the Kingshighway-to-I-55 portion started last fall. Work on the I-55 interchange started in April.

Cost of Kingshighway-to-I-55 portion is $11,775,159, which included right-of-way acquisition, paving and interchange bridge. The cost from Sprigg to I-55 is about $29.2 million.

Shawnee Parkway was selected as the name of the route Dec. 11. It cam from the Shawnee Sports Complex, which is along a portion of the new four-lane highway.