William Street in Cape to be resurfaced from Kingshighway to Siemers Drive

Crews will work nighttime shifts on William Street in Cape Girardeau in another MoDOT project funded by the federal stimulus package.

Construction on the 1.65-mile stretch of William Street between Siemers Drive and Kingshighway is set to begin Friday. The project includes overlaying the concrete roadway with three-quarter-inches of asphalt and adding two turn lanes between the ramps of Interstate 55. The total cost is $556,000, MoDOT resident engineer Darius Dowdy said.

Dowdy said the asphalt will prolong the life of the concrete underneath and prevent water from seeping into joints in the pavement. Once the roadway is restriped, road markings will be more visible on the black asphalt.

"Especially when it's raining out there, it provides better roadway visibility for people to be able to stay in their lanes," Dowdy said.

Traffic flow will be improved by creating additional turn lanes for getting onto Interstate 55. New traffic signals will be added to handle the expansion to nine lanes.

Construction will be done at night to minimize traffic disruption, and up to two lanes will be closed at a time. Crews will work from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday night through Thursday, from midnight Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday and from midnight Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday morning. Residents in the area can expect to see lights and hear construction equipment throughout the night, MoDOT said.

MoDOT senior construction inspector Allen Friedrich said night construction is not unusual in the region but that it is more common in cities such as St. Louis.

"There's a little bit more [risk] because people aren't used to seeing us out there at night, but ... it's a trade-off because there's going to be a lot less traffic," he said.

Friedrich said all asphalt is scheduled to be laid by Aug. 7, weather permitting. Crews will then spend several nights putting down pavement markings, he said.

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