MODOT HAS BETTER IDEA IN JACKSON

After considering a number of possibilities, the Missouri Department of Transportation now has decided to turn Highway 34-72 through Jackson, also known as West Jackson Boulevard, into a four-lane divided highway with a limited number of intersections at which crossovers, left turns and U-turns would be allowed.

The concept comes somewhat out of the blue. For as long as the department has been talking about improving the route, the public has been led to believe that if the existing two-lane highway were to be improved -- as opposed to constructing a bypass of some kind around Jackson -- a four-lane highway with a fifth lane in the center for left turns would be built.

That is the way the department for years has been building highways through commercial areas all over the state. That is the way it built East Jackson Boulevard from the intersection of Highway 34-72, U.S. 61 and Highway 25 eastward to near Interstate 55, and Kingshighway through Cape Girardeau.

Except, in limited situations, MoDOT has decided not to build more roads with the center, two-way turn lanes, often called suicide lanes by motorists.

The department says it has been studying the issue and found that limited access reduces accidents and allows a road to accommodate more traffic. A parkway is more aesthetically pleasing than the connecting fifth lane of concrete, the department believes. And, by enabling motorists to drive to their destinations faster, access management also has shown to increase the size of a community's business region, the department has found.

The department's latest plan for the 3 1/2-mile stretch from the Highway 25 intersection to the Highway 34-72 split west of Jackson is a four-lane highway with a 4-foot-wide landscaped median strip down the middle. Traffic signals would be installed approximately every one-fourth mile. In addition to the traffic signals at Highway 25 and West Lane, signals would be added at Farmington Road, West Main and East Lane. Signals at some intersections would allow U-turns because left-turn access to some streets would be prohibited.

The parkway approach particularly lends itself well to the West Jackson Boulevard improvement because of the limited number of businesses along that route. You can bet the department would be hearing plenty of complaints if that stretch of highway were lined with businesses and the department limited left turns.

In this case, the parkway approach is the better idea for safety reasons and practicality. And a landscaped parkway certainly is more attractive than a concrete turn lane cluttered with glass and other debris from all of the accidents they tend to promote.