SPRIGG STREET CLOSED FOR ELEVATION WORK

A section of South Sprigg was closed to traffic Thursday as a contractor began work to see that the road remains open in future floods.

Mississippi River floodwaters have regularly closed a low-lying section of South Sprigg over the years.

But a $573,450 project to elevate the roadway from Vine to LaCruz streets should keep the street high and dry in the future, city officials said.

Seventy-five percent of the cost is funded with federal money from the Economic Development Administration.

The street is being elevated to a height above the level of the 1993 flood. Nip Kelley Construction Co. is the contractor.

South Sprigg from Sprigg Street Salvage just south of Southern Expressway to LaCruz Street has been closed to traffic and will remain closed until the end of April. The construction project is slated to be finished by July.

Motorists can still reach Cape River Grain, Luhr Brothers Inc. and Long Star Industries.

"They can go down Kingshighway. They can cut over in front of the Meat Shop, or go over I-55 and go down to Highway 74 and turn east on Sprigg Street," said Ken Eftink, the city's development services coordinator.

Elevating the roadway will improve access not only to businesses like Lone Star, but also the city's trash transfer station, Eftink said.