TREES REPLACE HILL AT HIGHWAY 61/I-55

Despite leveling a hill a year ago to improve visibility at the Highway 61-Interstate 55 interchange, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department now is planting trees in the median where the hill once stood.

In November 1993, the department approved work to level the hill that stood on the Jackson side of the interstate between the divided lanes of Highway 61 at the interchange between Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

Freeman McCullah, the department's District 10 engineer until being transferred to another district last month, said in 1993 that removal of the hill would give better sight distance to Highway 61 drivers headed to Cape Girardeau and to motorists turning toward Cape Girardeau from the I-55 ramp that crosses the median on the Jackson side of the interstate.

Mike Perry, district maintenance and traffic engineer for the highway department's office in Sikeston, said Wednesday that pine trees and shrubs are being planted in the Highway 61 median on both sides of the interstate to add beauty and reduce the department's maintenance problems.

"Hopefully, the plantings will get us out of some other maintenance-type problems," Perry said. He said the area will require less mowing with trees and shrubs instead of just grass.

"We caught a lot of flak for grading that area," Perry said about the bare ground that was left after the hill was leveled. "We decided to put some plantings back in there."

The district office consulted with the highway department's horticulturist to decide what trees and shrubs to plant, Perry said. He said the approximately 600 pine trees will grow fairly tall.

Perry said no plantings are being done to hamper visibility for those driving on the highway and connecting ramps.

"The department will definitely be taking a look at anything that might affect what a driver needs to see on the roadway," Perry said.

He said the department will consider the possibility of the trees impeding motorists in seeing cars along the highways or ramps."

Perry said there are two types of visibility involved in the decision to plant trees. One deals with motorists being able to see what is necessary while the second deals with the visibility that commercial interests would like to have at a particular location.

The first type of visibility is a primary concern while the second type is not in deciding what and where to plant, Perry said.

A woman who lives near the interchange expressed concern about the ability of motorists to get a clear view of the interchange when the trees get bigger.

"I'm concerned about the visibility of cars pulling out onto the highway and those having to cross the ramps," said Tina LeGrand, who lives within two miles of the interchange.

She lives off the South Outer Road on the Jackson side of the interstate. She said she has no business interests in the area, but is familiar with the dangers of the interchange.

The interchange was the site of an Oct. 26 fatal accident when a motorist allegedly failed to yield right of way and pulled into the path of a vehicle. The interchange is considered the second-worst for accidents in the city by the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

"Anyone coming or going to the Veterans Home will have those trees on either side of them," LeGrand said. She said the plantings will block the visibility from the interstate exit ramps and median crossovers on the Jackson side of the intersection.

"I don't object to a few trees so it's not bare," LeGrand said. "It's the amount of trees that are being planted and their height when they mature that is my concern."