10 YEARS AFTER TWO-WAY TRAFFIC CONVERSION, BROADWAY FLOWS

It's been 10 years since the Broadway experiment ended. For seven years, Broadway was transformed into one-way traffic. Those seven years were also fraught with controversy. The last 10 have seen this important street with its proper traffic flow.

It was a split city council that voted to revert Broadway to two-way traffic. But even though a decade has passed, strong feelings about the future fate of Broadway remain.

Today, Broadway continues as a busy thoroughfare. Though several Broadway intersections have some of the highest accident rates in the city, those rates didn't change much when Broadway reverted from one-way to two.

Much of the Broadway congestion on its west end should be relieved by the current widening project. The street has already been enlarged to four lanes from Kingshighway to Clark.

An additional $400,000 is allocated in the 1997-98 fiscal budget to continue the widening to Caruthers. This project should improve traffic flows. Whether this widening goes much further east may be the next great debate.

Other options can be explored to improve traffic on Broadway's eastern stretches, such as parking restrictions. But before any changes are made, input from community and merchants will be essential. It could be that most people and businesses would prefer the status quo.

In 1976, the city council opted for one-way Broadway from Main to Pacific. Council members hoped the change would reduce accidents and improve traffic flow on the busy thoroughfare. But many Broadway merchants felt that shoppers avoided the one-way travel.

And perhaps that's the root of the trouble with Cape's one-way experiment. Broadway funneled one-way traffic downtown, but there was no return option. Motorists had to travel back west over Independence or William -- both two-way roads. In other cities where the one-way thoroughfare concept works, there is one-way travel (in opposite directions) on two parallel streets.

There are no easy answers to Broadway's congestion. The traffic provides a double-edged sword for many merchants. The traffic is good if it indicates an abundance of customers, but it's bad if it keeps other potential patrons away.

Broadway remains one of Cape Girardeau's oldest streets. As such, people feel strongly about its traditions and growth. Today, it remains one of the city's primary east-west arteries, connecting Kingshighway with the downtown business district.

At this point, no one is clamoring for changes to be made on the east end of Broadway. But it's the city's job to watch and anticipate future problems in its master street plan. Broadway is not the only east-west access. William and Independence also carry considerable traffic through town, and Independence may be the sensible choice for future widening.

Ironically, Broadway was initially known as Harmony Street. The debate over Broadway traffic inflamed years of discord in our city. That's reason enough that the city should move slowly in considering any future traffic changes along Broadway.