Updates

Transportation

Cape recommends replacement air carrier

Cape Girardeau recommended that the U.S. Department of Transportation select Great Lakes Airlines as the new commercial passenger carrier after the demise of Big Sky Airlines.

Big Sky, a Billings, Mont.-based airline began served Cape Girardeau for about six weeks with service to Cincinnati, Ohio, but was unable to overcome disappointing ticket sales, bad weather and high fuel prices on several Eastern U.S. Routes.

Great Lakes, based in Cheyenne, Wyo., submitted a bid for the Essential Air Services Contract and offered service to either St. Louis, Kansas City or Cincinnati. The Cape Girardeau Airport Advisory Board recommended that the USDOT select Great Lakes and direct the flights to St. Louis.

Air Choice One of Farmington, Mo., also bid for the contract. The final selection of a carrier was pending at press time.

Great Lakes CEO Chuck Howell could not give a date for the resumption of air service to Cape Girardeau. The company needs to hire pilots and lease airplanes for the service, a process that could take several months.

Bridge work ahead of schedule

GREENVILLE, Mo. -- The pace of construction on the new four-lane US 67 bridge over the St. Francis River/Lake Wappapello area south of Greenville has been faster than expected, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation. A drier than usual summer and fall made it possible to gain time on the bridge construction, MoDOT says.

Planned to be completed b the summer of 2009, the bridge is ahead of schedule. It is being built 10 feet higher than the existing bridge to eliminate flooding concerns.

"We anticipate the new bridge will be completed in the fall of 2008," said Ben Holt, vice president of Robertson Contractors Inc. of Poplar Bluff, which was awarded a nearly $10 million contract on March 13.

MoDOT awarded $1.2 Million 'High Risk Rural Road' grant for improvements to Highway 61

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- The Federal Highway Administration will provide the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) with $1.2 million for safety improvements to Highway 61, including most of the stretch of the road that runs through Ste. Genevieve County.

The funding is being made available under the federal "High Risk Rural Roads" program, which is designed to improve safety on rural roadways.

The work in this county will involve the route from just north of the Bloomsdale city limits. Improvements to Highway 61 also will be made in Perry County and to just below the City of Fruitland in Cape Girardeau County.

The work is expected to start next spring at the northern end of the route, moving south. Some preparatory work already has been accomplished.

The award for improvements to Highway 61 is the first such in Southeast Missouri. The work will focus on the addition of three-foot wide shoulders and shoulder resurfacing.

Projects funded under the program must meet eligibility criteria that include roadway type and severe crash history. In Missouri, the selection of the routes where the need for funding was greatest was based on crash data analyzed by MoDOT, with input from local regional planning commissions.

In all, the state will receive $13 million from the program.

Bill gives Highway 67, railroad depot funding, among other projects

Funds for Highway 67 construction and a new roof for the 1910 Poplar Bluff Depot are included in the Omnibus appropriations bill passed by the Senate and by the House in December, according to U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo. President George Bush is expected to sign the bill.

The bill includes $6 million from water project funds for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and $2.2 million from transportation funds, which will be used for construction of the new four-lane bridge over St. Francis River/ Lake Wappapello area south of Greenville. Both amounts were secured by Bond with the help of U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau.

The Poplar Bluff Historic Depot Restoration Corporation will receive $183,750 to protect the depot's historic significance in the community.

"We are happy to receive the funding. This will help us to get started on the roof," said Dennis Glaze, chairman of the PBDRC board.

The federal funds will be added to a $114,075 grant received from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad constructed the depot in 1910. From 1917 to 1983, the depot was operated by the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Then it was owned by the Union Pacific Railroad until it was donated to the PBDRC on June 16, 2003.

Two Texas Eagle Amtrak trains stop at the depot every night. One is traveling to St. Louis and Chicago. The other one is going to Little Rock, Dallas and San Antonio.

Bond and Emerson also secured $735,000 for repairs and safety improvements to Route Y from Highway 25 to the Nestle's plant northeast of Bloomfield.

Southeast Missouri Transportation Service (SMTS) based in Fredericktown will receive $735,000 to provide local bus service in several communities, including Poplar Bluff. Bond said the funds will be used to facilitate access to health care, training, business and employment opportunities.

First Route 53 contract is awarded

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission held its December meeting in Poplar Bluff and awarded a contract for the first phase of improvements to Route 53 in Butler and Dunklin Counties.

The $3.8 million contract was awarded to Lake Asphalt Paving & Construction, Osage Beach, Mo.

The first phase of the project includes resurfacing and adding shoulders to a 13-mile section of Route 53 from Qulin to Campbell and improvements to the Route J/Route 53 intersection.

The second phase of the project, expected in 2010, includes resurfacing and paving shoulders from Poplar Bluff to Qulin and from Campbell to Holcomb. "We chose to start with this section because of accident statistics and pavement condition," project manager Eric Krapf said. "The corridor from Poplar Bluff to Holcomb is in need of repairs to make it smoother, but we felt this portion needed our attention first."

Construction on the first phase is scheduled to get underway early in 2008 with completion anticipated in the fall.

During work, two-way traffic will be reduced to one lane. Traffic control will be handled by motorists following a pilot car. A vehicle, operated by the contractor and signed as "Pilot Car," will lead traffic south through the one lane work zone. Once there, the car will turn to lead northbound traffic through the work zone.

All side roads will be signed alerting motorists to wait for the pilot car to pass in the direction they intend to travel. Flaggers will only be stationed at state route intersections. At all other intersections, there will be a sign alerting motorists to the pilot car.

"In addition, the Route J intersection will be closed for two weeks while the intersection is rebuilt. Once all the details and schedule are worked out with the contractor, we will alert drivers before any change to traffic," resident engineer Brian Holt said

Restaurants

Castello's Restaurant opens

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Castello's Restaurant has opened at 2720 Oak Grove Road. The opening was recently noted with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Bobbie Tinsley is the owner.

Restaurant looks for move

The Lewis & Clark Cafe in Cape Girardeau, has altered its plans to close the 31 N. Main St. location and reopen in larger surroundings at 727 Broadway, owner Sam Alsmadi said.

The cafe, known for its Middle Eastern food and hookah pipes, is still likely to move in order to offer a more varied menu once, Alsmadi said.

While the proposed new location had more seating area and space for larger kitchen, the cost of converting the location to restaurant use and the city regulations for installing the necessary kitchen equipment helped kill the idea, Alsmadi said.

Alsmadi wants to remain in the downtown area and is talking with other potential landlords for an appropriate location, he said.

The current restaurant has room for up to 70 people, and Alsmadi would like to be able to seat about 100, he said.

Restaurant closing

Citing poor sales, Ronn Unterreiner of AREYOU Enterprises LLC closed the Dairy Queen at 1036 N. Sprigg St. in Cape Girardeau.

"It is just the wrong restaurant for the college atmosphere," he said. "It is the wrong product for the college market."

AREYOU Enterprises owns two other Dairy Queens, adjacent to Schnuck's in Cape Girardeau and at 2806 E. Jackson Blvd. in Jackson. Those two restaurants are doing well, said Unterreiner, who purchased all three stores in 2006. The remaining Cape Girardeau location will be remodeled in the spring to match the DQ Grill and Chill Restaurant look.

Restaurant remodel

Taco John's, 111 N. Kingshighway, is getting a facelift.

The makeover is part of a national effort to update the company's more than 400 locations nationwide. The Cape Girardeau location, a company-owned and operated restaurant, will remain open during the renovation, said Ryan Voszler, store manager.

"We are basically gutting the entire dining room for remodeling and redoing the outside of the building," Voszler said.

The new look will include a rock face for the outside of the building and a reworking of the color scheme in reds and grays, he said. The menu boards will be updated, but the offerings won't change, Voszler said.

"It is supposed to catch your eye," he said. "A lot of buildings have updated themselves already in the vicinity and ours kind of disappeared into the background."