SEWER WORK PASSES HALFWAY POINT; SIX OF 12 CITY CONTRACTS NOW FINISHED

John Bennett hopes he won't get any more surprises as work progresses this summer on Cape Girardeau's sewer segregation program.

Bennett, the engineer overseeing the work, said work is past the halfway mark on the $25 million project to install separate sewer and storm-water lines in the older sections of the city.

"Out of the 12 contracts, we have completed six," he said. "The seventh project, which is the West Side relief project, is better than 95 percent complete."

The College-Henderson project, which includes parts of West End Boulevard and Park Street now closed to traffic, is about 60 percent complete, Bennett said. West End Boulevard should reopen to traffic in mid-June and Park Street by the end of June, he said.

"Hopefully, the surprises on Park Street are over with," Bennett said.

The problem came when contractors found a shallow water main under the street. "That delayed the segment north of Independence," Bennett said. "It took awhile to get funding and construction lined out with Alliance Water."

The water main had to be replaced along with the new sewer line, and the street itself is being rebuilt, he said.

All of the sewer construction is finished on Park Street, Bennett said. But rainy spring weather forced delays in rebuilding the street, adding to the weeks the street has been closed to traffic.

"Park Street's been one of the main areas of complaint," he said. "I can't blame them: It's been quite some time."

Park Street was scheduled to be replaced before the sewer segregation project was mapped out, Bennett said.

On West End, most of the sewer-main installation is finished, he said. "Hopefully, pavement repair will go fairly quickly on that," he said.

In addition, problems getting easements have also delayed work on the sewer segregation, he said.

Work to replace part of a sewer line along Broadway was scheduled to start today, Bennett said.

Westbound traffic on Broadway from Park to Henderson will be re-routed for the work, which should take about three weeks, he said.

And in July, work on the College-Henderson north project will move to Independence where a new main will be installed.

Four contracts still remain under the sewer segregation program.

The city should seek bids for a contract covering downtown in June, Bennett said.

"There's been a lot of concern because a lot of the downtown business owners think it could disrupt their business," he said. "Most of the work is around the fringes of the old Main Street area."

One lane will also be closed on Broadway from Fountain to Pacific for the work, he said, and some work will be done on Morgan Oak as well.

In addition, the city will replace four lift stations along the Mississippi River, replace sewer lines along Sloan Creek from near the Mississippi to near Lexington Avenue, and extend new sewer lines to an area at the far south end of the Ramsey Branch.

The sewer segregation program is funded by a quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters in 1994. About half of the $25 million budgeted for the project has been spent or is obligated by construction, Bennett said.