MEETING TRAFFIC NEEDS

By the fall of 1995, Cape Girardeau will be home to a riverboat and more than 860,000 more tourists. Now is the time to prepare for the load.

The Cape Girardeau Planning and Zoning Commission is advocating that William Street be widened east of Sprigg to prevent traffic congestion. It seems a reasonable idea.

It has been the city's stance all along that parking, traffic, water and sewer impacts from the gambling boat be paid by the company chosen. City officials and representatives of Boyd Gaming Corp., which expected to have a boat in operation here by sometime next year, plan to begin meeting early next year to hammer out a development plan. This plan would include all the improvements as well as identify who will pay for them. It will be part of Boyd Gaming's license application to the state.

Boyd Gaming may wait on the license and Corps of Engineers approval before starting construction. But that approval for Cape Girardeau may go more quickly, because the company already has an application pending for Kansas City.

An impact study on traffic, sewer and water by a St. Louis consultant indicated that William Street may not have to be widened to four lanes. They had other options, including connector roads or three lanes on William.

The report found the average daily traffic of most streets in the downtown area is 3,000 to 4,000 vehicles or less. It estimated the 860,000 passengers per year would bring an additional 2,500 passengers per day. It also found about 85 percent of the traffic will utilize William Street.

That is a lot of traffic pouring into Cape Girardeau's downtown.

As the only four-lane that approaches the downtown, the city staff is making sense with its recommendation. William Street widening remains a sensible priority.