TRANSPORTATION TAX: PLANNING UNIT OFFERS ROADWORK LIST

Paving the city's remaining gravel streets and expanding the paving overlay program are items on the Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission's street improvement priority list.

Harry Rediger announced the list during First Friday Coffee Friday. The list has 19 items.

"We don't have the monetary values of all of these projects," he said, "but, we're estimating the entire list of priorities at between $11 and 14 million."

The planning and zoning commission list is the second priorities list completed in response to the city council's request for input on transportation priorities for the city.

The Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors approved a "Top 10" priority list earlier in the week. Estimates to complete projects on the chamber list are about $10.2 million.

The two lists include many of the same projects, including proposed roadwork along sections of Bloomfield, Perryville, Hopper and Mount Auburn roads, New Madrid and Rodney streets, West End Boulevard, Southern Expressway and Lexington Avenue.

Information from the planning board, the chamber committee and Vision 2000 hearings could lead to a recommendation to place a transportation tax measure on the city ballot.

The council has discussed placing a half-cent sales tax on the ballot to generate funds for the city's transportation projects.

Rediger, who headed the planning board's priority efforts, said the city is involved in overlay work in the amount of about $200,000. "We'd like to see that work expanded," he said.

Rediger added that the city still had 3 1/2 miles of gravel streets. "We'd like to see all of these streets paved."

The planning list also calls for street, curb and gutter repair work, along with sidewalk repair and reconstruction.

Rediger said the planning board's list had been approved except for some "fine tuning," adding that the planning group had conducted several meetings to compile the 19-item list, which will be presented to the city early next month.

Some of the items are included on the city's five-year capital improvements plan, Rediger said, but at least nine are on the "unfunded" list.

Some 31 transportation projects are on the city's unfunded needs list, and 23 others are planned for fiscal years 1998 through 2000. Most projects are included in the city's five-year capital improvements plan or the unfunded needs list.

In the current five-year plan, only projects in fiscal years 1996 and 1997 have solid funding sources.

These include reconstruction of Perryville Road from Meyer Drive north to the city limits, widening and reconstruction of a portion of Broadway, the extension of Hopper Road from Mount Auburn to Kage, and a number of airport improvements.

The unfunded list of the city includes construction and reconstruction of sidewalks throughout the city and the widening of William Street from Sprigg to Main.

The Planning and Zoning Commission transportation priorities.

1. Expand paving overlay program.

2. Pave remaining gravel streets.

3. Street, curb and gutter repair.

4. Sidewalk repair and reconstruction.

5. Perryville Road, Capital Improvement Play (CIP) near Meyer Drive to City Limits (Hanover Church).

6. Hopper Road (CIP), Phase I, new alignment from Mount Auburn west to Kage Road.

7. Silver Springs Road (CIP), William Street (Route K) north to Independence.

8. Bloomfield Road (CIP), Phase I, Christine Street east to Spring Street.

9. Broadway (CIP), widening and reconstruction from Clark Street east to Caruthers.

10. Mount Auburn Road (CIP). (a) widening to full four lanes, William to Independence and (b) Mount Auburn Road, traffic signals at Independence intersection.

11. New Route 74 connections. (A) Lorimier Street (CIP), Morgan Oak at New Highway 74, connection, (b) Mount Auburn Road (CIP), Bloomfield Road south to New Highway 74, (c) Siemers Drive (unfunded), Bloomfield Road to New Highway 74, connection, (d) Silver Springs Road (CIP), Bloomfield south to New Highway 74.

12. Bloomfield Road (unfunded), Phase II, Kingshighway west to Siemers Drive (36-foot width).

13, Hopper Road (unfunded), Phase II, Kage Road to Interstate 55, possibly west to city limits.

14. William Street (unfunded) General improvement and/or widening Sprigg Street to Main.

15. Perryville Road (unfunded), city limits north to Route W and Cypress Drive.

16. Kage Road (unfunded), Mt. Auburn to Hopper Road.

17. Mount Auburn Road/Southern Expressway extensions. (A), Mount Auburn Road (unfunded), New Highway 74 South to Southern Expressway, extended west to Silver Springs, (b) Southern Expressway, Highway 74, (unfunded), extension west from Kingshighway to Silver Springs Road.

18. Independence Street (unfunded), reconstruction of Sprigg Street intersection.

19. New Madrid Street (unfunded), reconstruction from Perry Avenue east to Show-Me Center, including realignment of Henderson intersection

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's transportation priority list.

1. Perryville Road to city limits.

2. Hopper Road-Mount Auburn Road to Interstate 55.

3. Bloomfield Road-Spring to Seimers widening.

4. Reconstruction of older streets.

5. Mount Auburn Road improvements.

6. Seimers Road-Bloomfield to Highway 74.

7. New Madrid-Perry to Henderson.

8. Rodney Street bridge.

9. Southern Expressway extension.

10. West End Boulevard-Lexington to Southern Expressway.

Included in the chamber's priorities is the completion of Lexington Street and the North Sprigg Stree extension to Lexington.