Southeast will widen Broadway under agreement with council

A section of busy, two-lane Broadway that has long been a traffic bottleneck will be widened this year under an agreement between the city of Cape Girardeau and Southeast Missouri State University that will speed up the estimated $1.3 million construction project.

The city council Monday night approved a written agreement that allows the university to take bids and award a contract for the street work.

The university will fund the construction and then be reimbursed by the city within 60 days after the project is completed.

The project will widen Broadway to four and five lanes, extending from Park Street to Houck Place. As part of the improvements, the Broadway and Henderson Avenue intersection will be reconfigured with the north side of the intersection moved slightly to the west.

A center left-turn lane will extend from Park Street to Henderson Avenue. Near Houck Place, Broadway will narrow to four lanes and then ultimately back to two lanes. There will be one eastbound lane and a left-turn lane on Broadway at Houck Place.

Parking areas will be constructed on the south side of Broadway between Henderson Avenue and a row of retail shops. Another area of commercial parking may be constructed near Park Street, but that has yet to be finalized, city and engineering officials said.

Mayor Jay Knudtson said the street plan provides adequate parking for Broadway businesses.

"I really think we have done everything we can to involve affected property owners," he said.

The university hopes to take bids this spring so construction can begin as early as mid-April, said Chris Koehler of Koehler Engineering of Cape Girardeau, which is designing the improvements.

Construction work should be largely completed before fall classes start in August, Koehler said before the council meeting.

Southeast wanted to proceed with the project this spring in conjunction with its plan to improve the parking lot adjacent to Houck Field House, Koehler said. The university will set aside some of its parking spaces for use by nearby businesses, he said.

The university also plans to install a sidewalk with brick-like paving stones bordering Broadway and the campus. School officials have said they want to make the Broadway-Henderson Avenue intersection the main entrance to the campus.

As part of the construction project, conduits will be buried under Broadway and Henderson Avenue to make it easier to install traffic lights at the intersection should they ever be needed, Koehler said.

Improving Broadway between Houck Place and Park Street is just the first phase of improvements that will be made to one of the city's east-west thoroughfares. The second phase involves widening Broadway from Park Street west to Perry Avenue.

City manager Doug Leslie said before the council meeting that the second phase, which won't involve the university, could get underway later this year. Ultimately, city transportation sales tax money will pay for the construction.

Unlike the first phase, the city will have to buy two buildings and tear them down to make room for some of the widening work between Park Street and West End Boulevard, city officials have said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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