With levee coming down, long-term solution sought

By Heather Kronmueller ~ Southeast Missourian

DUTCHTOWN, Mo. -- Motorists cruised through the intersection of Highway 25 and Route A Wednesday with smiles on their faces.

It was the first time they were able to travel the road since the Army Corps of Engineers closed the Dutchtown intersection with old Highway 74 on May 15 to build a 2,000-foot-long, $45,000 temporary levee.

"Finally," said David Riley, a Cape Girardeau resident who passed through the intersection Wednesday afternoon on his way to fish just west of Dutchtown. "It makes a big difference when 25 is closed. You can't go anywhere."

Cape Girardeau County Highway Department crews worked with the Cape Special Road District and 10 inmates from the South East Correctional Center in Charleston, Mo., to clear the week-old levee from the intersection.

Highway 74 east of the intersection is expected to be cleared and open by late Friday afternoon.

No change yet for I-55

Interstate 55, faced with traffic congestion in its southbound lane, will remain as it is through Memorial Day weekend and be re-evaluated later, said Angie Wilson, a Missouri Department of Transportation spokeswoman.

The department has changed traffic flow on the Diversion Channel bridge and turned the shoulder of the road into a temporary driving lane to help drivers hindered by closed roads due to flooding.

Voyann Smith owns the Amoco station at the corner of highways 25 and 74 in Duchtown. Her store was closed last week because of the flood but was open at 11:30 a.m. when Highway 25 opened. By noon she had customers.

"Are you glad the road's open?" she yelled across the store to a customer in her drive-through.

"Oh yeah," the customer said with a smile as he drove away.

Smith said the road couldn't have opened at a better time.

The fourth annual 100-Mile Garage Sale from Jackson, Mo., to Kennett, Mo., starts today and lasts through Monday.

"I thought they were going to have to call it the 75-Mile Garage Sale because they were going to have to take a detour around Dutchtown," Smith said. "The road being open will be a big thing."

Julie Foland, who lives in Advance, Mo., usually drives to and from Cape Girardeau on Highway 25 three times a week. Her husband, Paul Foland, works in Cape Girardeau and drives the route at least five times a week.

"I definitely took the road for granted before they closed it," she said. "I didn't realize how great this road is until we had to take the other roads."

Donation requests

Now that the road is open, Dutchtown residents are going to ask motorists to donate money for a permanent levee for the town.

Smith said she and Dutchtown resident Debe Scheffer sat down Tuesday night when they heard the road was going to open to talk about ways to raise money for a permanent levee.

For a permanent levee to be built at Dutchtown, the town would have to be approved for a Community Development Block Grant, which would provide $600,000 to construct a 7,200-foot levee to connect with the Highway 74 levee and pass through Highway 25.

To be approved for the grant, the town must contribute $323,000, which would bring the total project cost to $923,000. So far they have only collected $25,000 through property and sales taxes.

"People say if we build a levee it's going to cause flooding in Allenville and other places," Smith said. "Whether we're going to build a temporary levee or a permanent one makes no difference to them. This isn't to save Dutchtown or the Amoco station. It's to keep the roads open."

Smith and Sheffer decided the best way to raise money would be by asking people who travel the roads every day for spare change.

The Missouri Department of Transportation gave Smith 10 orange vests so motorists will be aware of them as they seek donations from passing vehicles.

Late Wednesday afternoon a group of volunteers took to the street, asking motorists at the stoplight for any money they could spare to help support a permanent levee.

"It just seemed like a good idea," Smith said. "The easiest way to get money is when people are traveling by right now. The road being closed inconvenienced the heck out of everybody, and they won't want it to happen again."

Smith said besides keeping the roads open during flooding, a permanent levee should be built so money isn't wasted on temporary ones every time the river floods.

But Jim Pogue with the Army Corps of Engineers office in Memphis, Tenn., said the cost of constructing temporary levees is a lot less than building permanent structures.

Pogue said the temporary levees built at Dutchtown in 1993, 1995 and this year had a total cost of $175,000.

Dutchtown tried to get a Community Development Block Grant for a permanent levee last year but was rejected.

The town must have its current application filed by June 15.

hkronmueller@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 128