Orange-barrel season

With warmer weather, the pace of construction in our area picks up considerably. Among the many projects are improvements to streets and highways. The orange barrels make many motorists see red, but when the work is finished, we have better and safer streets and roads.

As a result of the transportation trust fund, Cape Girardeau has seen a large number of street improvements.

Many of the city's worst street needs have already been addressed. On the list for completion this year are improvements to Bloomfield Road. A detour around a bridge-replacement project is an inconvenience for motorists in the area, but the bridge and a widening of Bloomfield Road between Siemers Drive and Stonebridge Drive has been badly needed for some time as housing in that area has mushroomed.

Another key project this year is the final work to extend Silver Spring Road south of Central High School and the Career and Technology Center to South Kingshighway. And businesses along Commercial Street -- often called the worst street in the city -- are eager to see that paving and widening project completed.

Many other projects will be completed in the months ahead. Motorists on I-55 will be pleased to see the new bridges over the Diversion Channel and other access improvements completed. The Nash Road interchange, which serves industrial areas, the airport and the Southeast Missouri Port Authority has become an important route.

For a while, the orange barrels will mean slowdowns and detours. But we'll all be glad when the projects are completed.