Sen. Bond working to fund area projects

Cape Girardeau's Riverwalk could be in line for another extension thanks to U.S. Sen. Kit Bond.

There's money in the federal budget for other communities as well, Bond announced this week, including $1 million to move ahead with plans for a new Scott City interchange on Interstate 55 and $1.15 million for improvements to Highway 34 in Bollinger County.

The walking and biking trail along the Mississippi River is undergoing work that's part of a $453,000 contract to extend it northward to the edge of Sloan Creek. That work is scheduled to be completed in late September.

If a $1.6 million earmarked appropriation sought by Bond remains intact in the federal budget, the city would construct a bridge over Sloan Creek to connect with the Red Star river access as well as extend the trail southward to the Southeast Missouri State University River Campus.

The extension is part of the city's Comprehensive Plan and the DREAM Initiative Master Plan, said Ken Eftink, director of planning services for the city.

The bridge over Sloan Creek must be more than just a simple pedestrian span because of its location, Eftink said. "That bridge will get it all -- flash flooding coming down Sloan Creek, Mississippi River flooding," he said. "We have to build it to withstand everything and anything that may come floating down the river."

The extension over Sloan Creek will connect the riverwalk to Main Street's sidewalks and eventually to new sidewalks to be constructed along Big Bend Road and Bertling Street, he said. That will create a pedestrian corridor to Sprigg Street and Lexington Avenue, completing a pedestrian loop on the north side of the city, Eftink said.

At the south end, the challenge will be to create a safe place to cross the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks.

The $1.6 million from Bond's earmark is contained in a spending bill approved Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee. That bill, along with another passed the same day, provides $38 million in total for Missouri projects, according to a news release from Bond's office. The bill must be approved by the full Senate and go through negotiations with the U.S. House to reach President Barack Obama for his approval.

On Wednesday, Bond's office announced that he had secured $300 million for energy, flood-control and river projects in a spending bill that was approved by the full Senate. That bill is closer to becoming law, needing only to work out differences with the House to reach Obama for his signature.

In the news releases, Bond described the earmarked funds as important for economic development. They also are a response to requests from communities for projects, which Bond said he was helping make sure tax dollars return to the communities that produced them.

"Local and community leaders in Missouri asked me to send our tax dollars back home for local projects, and with today's committee passage we're one step closer to that goal," Bond said in the news release issued Thursday.

Other area projects include:

* $1.15 million for improvements along a 1.5-mile stretch of Highway 34 in Bollinger County that will increase safety for students in the Woodland School District. The project would extend from a half-mile west of Route ZZ in Glenallen, Mo., to one mile east of Route ZZ, said Bill Robison, district planning manager for the Missouri Department of Transportation.

* $1 million to continue work in preparation for construction of a new I-55 interchange in Scott City, Robison said. Earlier spending on the project included money for environmental studies, construction of an outer road and construction to link Route AB and Route K, Robison said. The interchange, which Robison said could cost $10 million to $15 million, must meet federal approval and pass muster environmentally. The new interchange would be south of the existing Scott City exit from I-55.

* $9.834 million for work on the St. Francis River and Tributaries Project. That represents an increase in the annual appropriation of about $1.5 million to $2 million, said Larry Dowdy, president of the Little River Drainage District in Cape Girardeau. The district has been a strong advocate of the funds, which will strengthen levees and rehabilitate drainage structures along the St. Francis River in Southeast Missouri and northeast Arkansas, Dowdy said. The money will be spent by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Dowdy said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent Addresses:

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Glenallen, Mo.

Scott City, Mo.