WAITING FOR THE LIGHT AT SCOTT CITY INTERCHANGE

SCOTT CITY -- What's wrong with the Interstate 55 interchange at Scott City?

Everything, if you ask residents of Scott City, Kelso and Commerce who routinely drive through the mazelike intersection of I-55, U.S. Highway 61 and State Route K on their way to and from Cape Girardeau or Sikeston.

Traffic coming off I-55 southbound has to stop for cross traffic traveling east and west on Route K/M. Likewise, anyone trying to get to Highway 61 from I-55 has wait at a stoplight before coming to the intersection.

The delays and backup on the highway exit ramps only worsen when parents and buses are trying to reach the school, which is situated just west of the interchange, residents say.

Edith Davidson of the Scott City Community Betterment group thinks there has to be some way for the Missouri Department of Transportation to alleviate the congestion at the interchange.

"What they did when they built the highway was adequate," Davidson said. "But that was years ago and it's not adequate anymore."

Davidson lives west of the interchange area so she faces the traffic every time she leaves home.

MoDOT officials know there is a problem at the interchange, but a solution has yet to be found. The accident rate on Route K is nearly double the statewide average of lettered routes, according to MoDOT research.

Part of the problem with the interchange is simply the constraints of the land, said Barry Horst, a project development engineer with MoDOT.

"There are constraints with the school, development on another side and the railroad to the south," he said. There simply isn't anywhere else to go with the traffic at the interchange.

"Route 61 then adds another dimension because you are funneling a lot of traffic into a small spot and that gets tough," he said.

Horst said traffic is growing at the intersection and MoDOT has looked at other possibilities but nothing is being considered for construction now.

There has been talk of widening Main Street to add a two-way left turn lane, but that could take a year just to gain right-of-way from Union Pacific railroad, Horst said.

The project, which could cost $1 million, isn't on any list of future plans being readied for design.

Changing the design of the interchange could only worsen the situation, Horst said. "You would have a situation where you could have car and railroad collisions or the railroad blocking traffic, which would really back up" onto the interstate.

The interchange design -- called a folded diamond because all the ramps are on the north side -- was probably chosen so that the railroad wouldn't interfere with interstate traffic, Horst said.

Creating another road from Scott City to Cape Girardeau also was a possible solution, until MoDOT discovered how much such a project would cost.

A two-year study couldn't find a feasible, cost-efficient way of building another road. Estimates reached $20 million and MoDOT feared the cost of a new bridge at the Diversion Channel wouldn't be worth the effort.

Since nearly 15,000 vehicles pass through the interchange area daily, the roads would get too congested before a new road project and bridge could be completed, engineers said.

A connector road wouldn't "pull enough traffic off Interstate 55 to warrant building" it, Horst said.

Adding more lanes to the interstate between Fruitland and Scott City could help traffic move better through the area, but there isn't a timetable for that project either.

Extending the northbound acceleration lane at the Nash Road/I-55 interchange might help motorists who use Route AB as an outlet from Scott City. Again, MoDOT

To help lessen some of the delays and traffic backup at Scott City, this spring MoDOT engineers added new traffic signals prompted by sensors in the pavement.

The signals have been a help, said Erika Glock, city administrator for Scott City.

"I spent two hours with them (MoDOT engineers) checking the traffic flow and timing," she said. "They've been really responsive."

The problem is that everything MoDOT does to fix the problem is just a bandage.

"All they are doing is putting another Band-Aid on the problem," Davidson said.

Horst said MoDOT "welcomes public involvement because you never know where that next good idea will come from."

Kim Graviett wrote letters to her state senator and U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson trying to find some sympathy for her situation.

Graviett uses U.S. 61 as a route to reach the interstate so she can get to work in Cape Girardeau.

"I asked them to spend the night at my house and drive to work with me in the morning so they could see what it's like," she said.

No one took her up on the offer.

But Davidson says that shouldn't be a discouragement. More than just a few people are concerned and people are talking about "how awful this is."

TANGLED TRAFFIC AT SCOTT CITY

Heavy traffic at the I-55 interchange at Scott City is growing problem for area residents. Due to the large volume of traffic being funnelled into the small spot, MoDOT officials have been unsuccessful in finding a solution to alleviate the congestion. No construction plans are pending.

Constraints hindering road development at the interchange:

*Railroad to the south

*Schools to the west

*Business/residential development to the east

DAILY TRAFFIC COUNTS

The dialy traffic count at Interstate 55 at Route K in Scott City has increased 49.8 percent since 1980. Annual counts:

1980, 10,530

1995, 14,663

1996, 14,912

1997, 15,315

1998, 15,774

Source: Missouri Department of Transportation