SPRIGG AND LEXINGTON FINISHED; MORE ROADWORK ON THE HORIZON

Traffic started streaming through the Sprigg and Lexington intersection seconds after city officials finished a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday.

Motorists had been waiting more than a year for that moment. Work began in July 1995 on what is for some a major time-saving route.

With the completion of the last portion, Lexington Avenue extends 3.4 miles between Kingshighway and Highway 177. An additional mile of North Sprigg Street connects Lexington with a large portion of Cape Girardeau.

Mayor Al Spradling III dedicated Cape Girardeau's biggest road project since the 1970s.

"I am really proud we can say this is it for the Lexington and North Sprigg projects," he said. "Let the development begin."

But some of the people who bought land in the area years ago and didn't expect the development registered their protestsss during the early stages of the project.

Today, opinions about Lexington's completion are mixed. Rosy Earl, a Cape Girardeau real estate agent, owns 40 acres of property off the newly completed section. She and her husband began building a home on the property in April, right in the middle of road construction.

"What a nightmare," Earl said. "The contractors hate us. You could have lost a car in the holes. You had to stay on one certain section of the road, but you had to know where it was and it changed all the time."

She said she is resigned to the changes.

"It's progress, and that's cool," Earl said.

With the completion of this project, the city will turn its attention to several new projects on the horizon, City Engineer Mark Lester said, among them reconstructing the New Madrid-Henderson intersection, paving several gravel streets and improving Perryville and Bloomfield roads.

There will be another public meeting about one of the upcoming major projects -- widening Broadway from Clark Avenue to Perry Avenue. It is scheduled for 4:30-7:30 p.m. on Thursday at the A.C. Brase Arena Building. The public is invited to comment on tentative plans for the project.