SEWER PROJECTS TAKE CARE OF OLD PROBLEM

Renovation of Cape Girardeau's sewer system may be causing some inconvenience to property owners and motorists, but the annoyances will be well worth it. When finished, sanitary and storm sewer lines in the older parts of town will be separated for the first time.

The $25 million project -- taking place in the central and south parts of the city -- will result in separate mains to carry sewage from homes and businesses and to carry stormwater runoff. Newer parts of town have separate systems, but the old parts never have. Because sewage and stormwater go into a single system, untreated sewage escapes during heavy rains and finds its way into creeks. The larger system should also be able to handle more stormwater runoff.

Installation of the new lines began in the south part of town and is moving northward into the central part. Streets and driveways have had to be dug up, and since the work reached William street a few months ago -- and now Broadway between Henderson and Harmony -- motorists have had to put up with single-lane traffic and detours. The other east-west thoroughfare -- Independence -- is the latest to be affected, with a detour for eastbound traffic and single-lane movement westbound between Henderson and Benton.

That work will complete the $2.78 million College-Henderson-South project in the part of town that is most urgently in need of the improvement. Old sewers all flow southward to an open creek below the College-Henderson intersection, where sewage enters the creek. A few years ago two people died just north of that area when water flowed down the 500 block of South Henderson because the system could not handle the runoff from prolonged heavy rain. Construction of that section should last another two years.

Even before contractors complete College-Henderson South, workers should start on the Fort D project. The City Council is expected to award a contract on that work tonight. That means work will start soon in the area bounded by Benton Street on the west, Morgan Oak on the north, Hackberry on the south and the Mississippi River on the east. In August a contract is expected to be awarded on the College-Henderson North project, which will extend as far north as Dempster Hall of Business on the Southeast Missouri State University campus. The projects include new pumping stations.

People should look beyond the disruptions to completion of the long-needed sewer improvements. They will be good for Cape Girardeau.