Transit group wants to know what moves you?

What moves you? In a literal sense, how do you get from Point A to Point B?

The Southeast Metropolitan Planning Organization (SEMPO) wants to know about the forms of transportation you use to go to and from work, to go shopping or to travel anyplace else in the area.

Residents of SEMPO’s 117-square-mile metropolitan statistical area — encompassing much of Cape Girardeau County along with small portions of Scott County and Alexander County, Illinois — are invited to take an online survey to tell SEMPO about their driving habits as well as any improvements they’d like to see in the area’s transportation infrastructure.

“As a metropolitan planning organization, we’re required to establish a long-range transportation plan with a 20- to 25-year horizon, so we’re looking out a couple of decades into the future about what our transportation infrastructure needs and how we’re going to get there,” explained Alex McElroy, SEMPO’s executive director.

SEMPO adopted an initial transportation plan in February 2016 with the expectation it would be updated every five years.

Although February 2021 will be the five-year anniversary of SEMPO’s first transit plan, McElroy said the new planning document has been delayed, in part, by the COVID-19 pandemic and will likely not be approved by the SEMPO board until April.

In the meantime, SEMPO has partnered with KLG Engineering of Cape Girardeau, which has, in turn, teamed up with the Lochmueller Group out of St. Louis to gather public input into the plan.

During the last week of October, KLG Engineering facilitated nine focus groups of area residents representing several constituent groups.

“In each focus group, participants were asked about the transportation needs within their specific areas,” said Kelly Green, president of the KLG engineering group. “We asked what their needs are now and (what they will be) 20 years from now. The meetings were very much an open dialogue and we received a lot of great information.”

SEMPO’s online survey has been available to the public since earlier this month, and as of this week, more than 100 residents had completed it. The survey will remain active until the end of November and may be accessed through the SEMPO website, www.southeastmpo.org.

KLG Engineering and the Lochmueller Group will use information gathered through the survey, the focus groups and other sources to draft an overall transportation improvement plan for SEMPO’s metropolitan statistical area.

Once the plan is drafted, SEMPO will host a “virtual community open house,” providing an opportunity for residents to review study finds, propose plan changes and offer additional input. Details about that event will be available on the SEMPO website and the organization’s Facebook page.

Ultimately, McElroy said, the regional transportation plan will be shared with the Missouri Department of Transportation for potential incorporation into MoDOT’s regional and statewide infrastructure development projects based on need and available funding.

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