Flood project near last stage of construction

The Cape LaCroix-Walker Branch flood-control project has progressed from the vision of flood-weary city leaders and residents to a reality on which we depend.

And now residents will soon see the end of the project. Last week, we learned the final $1.7 million of federal funding needed to finish the project's detention basin is on the way in the form of a water and energy appropriations bill.

Construction on the detention basin began in June 2000 and should be completed by the end of next summer, 11 years and $48 million after work began.

The project was massive, envisioned in the 1970s but pushed forward after 1986 flood damage cost business owners millions of dollars. Cape Girardeau residents passed a quarter-cent sales tax in 1988 to fund the project, and work began three years later.

It includes three miles of channel modifications on Cape LaCroix Creek and Walker Branch, replacement of eight bridges along Kingshighway and the 157-acre detention basin in the northern part of the city. It was slated for completion in 1994 for $35 million, but slow acquisition of easements pushed up the amount of time and money.

The project got its first meaningful test in July, when more than 5 inches of rain fell on the city in a day, most of it in three hours. Flooding closed intersections across the city, but the Town Plaza shopping area, nearly wiped out by the 1986 flood, stayed above water.

Still, water licked at the base of the Independence Street bridge. Some Hopper Road residents near Cape LaCroix Creek watched fearfully as the water crept up their sidewalks.

Thankfully, their homes were spared, but they had to wonder: What would have happened if another couple of inches had fallen? What difference would the detention basin have made?

Bill Vaughn, the city's development service coordinator, regularly reminds the public that the project isn't meant to be total flood protection but instead is meant to reduce damage significantly in the event of a major flooding situation. We will see once the project is complete.

In the meantime, there's a possibility of making the detention basin more than just a pit to hold water. City officials have discussed turning the area into a park, perhaps the way the four miles of hiking and biking trails built along Cape LaCroix Creek have turned that part of the flood control project into a community attraction. Health-conscious residents can be seen strolling along it by the hundreds on every sunny day.

Of course, the most important issue by far is protecting the residents who helped pay for the project. It will be a joy to see the total package when it is finished.