VISION 2000 SETS MEETINGS ON EXTENDING ROAD FUND TAX

Plastic orange cones, construction equipment and detour signs will be part of the landscape in Cape Girardeau for the coming months.

And they could last much longer if voters extend the Transportation Trust Fund sales tax to pay for major street improvements.

Vision 2000 will sponsor a series of meetings for residents to offer suggestions on which roads need improvement and ask questions about the proposed tax extension. The first is Thursday at 7 p.m. at First Church of the Nazarene.

City staff members and Planning and Zoning Commission members will attend the meetings to answer questions.

The city council is expected to place the measure on the August ballot, asking voters to consider a five-year extension of the existing half-cent sales tax to pay for major street repairs.

The sales tax ends Dec. 31. It was first approved in 1995.

The tax extension will be based on a recommended list of projects created by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Charles Haubold, commission chairman, said the list could easily change after the meetings.

During the last round of public meetings, the city got a lot of suggestions from residents, he said, adding: "I don't think there will be a ton of major changes but some fine-tuning."

The commission has recommended five general projects that consist of paving; repairing streets, curbs and gutters; repairing sidewalks; building new sidewalks; and installing new street lights.

There are eight specific projects, listed in no order of priority:

* Widening Independence from Kingshighway to Pacific.

* General improvements to Independence from Sprigg to Water streets.

* Widening Siemers Drive from William Street to Bloomfield Road.

* New construction of Silver Springs Road From Southern Expressway to Kingshighway.

* New construction of Silver Springs Road from Shawnee Parkway to Southern Expressway.

* New construction of Bloomfield Road (Phase 3) from Siemers Drive to Stonebridge, including new bridge at Ramsey Creek.

* Widening and improving Broadway from Perry to Houck.

* Widening Mount Auburn Road from William Street to Bloomfield Road.

The Cape Girardeau City Council heard the first presentation during its study session Monday night.

More and more construction projects are being started or completed in the last years of the program because money hadn't been collected until then.

The greatest downfall to a "pay-as-you-go" plan like the Transportation Trust Fund is that much of the work cannot be completed until the latter years, said City Manager Michael Miller.

But maps of the city show the work is "all over the city," said Miller. "It's a good distribution of the work.

Meetings scheduled

Vision 2000 and the city will sponsor a series of meetings for residents to comment on the proposed extension of a half-cent sales tax to fund major street projects under the Transportation Trust Fund.

* Thursday at 7 p.m., at First Church of the Nazarene, 2601 Independence.

* Tuesday at 7 p.m., at City Hall, 401 Independence.

* April 12 at 7 p.m., Osage Community Centre, 1625 N. Kingshighway.

* April 13 at 7 p.m., Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1820 Perryville Road.

* April 19 at 7 p.m., Salvation Army, 701 Good Hope St.