STREET-WORK CARROT

The city of Cape Girardeau is holding out a carrot to encourage cooperation from landowners on Perryville Road improvements. All those who get behind the transportation sales tax improvement plan may get the work done for free.

It is a pretty inviting carrot. To qualify, property owners must donate their right-of-way to the city. Those who don't donate their land will pay a $35 per front foot assessment.

Cape Girardeau City Council members voted unanimously this week to fund improvements on Perryville from money in the Transportation Trust Fund. It is a smart move. If the city would have to proceed through condemnation to get the land, the project would face long delays in the court system.

Not all residents along scheduled street improvements will receive the same deal. But the council wanted to offer this arrangement along major routes to help speed up city-landowner negotiations. That way, major street improvement projects won't get bogged down by one or two landowners fussing about the cost. This tactic may also be used with Broadway and Bloomfield landowners.

These major projects also differ in that the improvements will help more than just a handful of landowners. Perryville is a heavily traveled street and all motorists will benefit from the improvements.

Along Perryville, some property owners have large frontages. That donation would account for a sizable amount of money. Many of these property owners may have already paid a street assessment years ago. This option avoids a second payment.

Under the current proposal, Perryville Road will be widened to 36 feet from just past Meyer Drive out to the city limits. Sidewalks would be added, and several ditches would be transformed into storm sewers. The winding, hilly stretch has been the scene of many accidents. That is why it was so high on the city's list of priorities from the half-cent transportation sales tax.

Most Perryville landowners who attended a recent hearing on the project agreed that improvements are needed. The fact they can swap right-of-way for assessments may make the inconvenience of the project all the more palatable.