Take a look at signals for Fountain-Hwy. 74

As construction of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River gets closer to completion, there are other signs of development in the south end of Cape Girardeau's downtown.

Planning is continuing for turning the former St. Vincent's Seminary property into Southeast Missouri State University's new River Campus for the Visual and Performing Arts.

Fuel and convenience-store retailers along Morgan Oak Street already have staked out plans to move their businesses from the approach to the old bridge to the area around Highway 74 and Sprigg Street.

Plans are moving ahead on developing a new Fountain Street corridor from Highway 74, which is the access to the new bridge, to Morgan Oak and eventually to William Street.

The Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce is continuing to spearhead a drive to raise funds for lighting the new bridge.

Downtown improvements are in the works thanks to a $500,000 appropriation to Cape Girardeau in the current federal spending bill.

Downtown merchants are giving serious thought about how all of these improvements will affect shopping in the city's oldest business district, and some businesses are considering later store hours and special events to attract customers.

Two major projects for government offices are moving ahead with the refurbishing of the Marquette Hotel building on Broadway and the construction of a new federal building on Independence Street.

Private investors are returning old homes and business buildings to the original splendor -- or better -- all over downtown.

In short, downtown's future looks more exciting now than it has for a long time.

A key concern for merchants is how to get traffic from the new bridge route to the downtown area. The solution that has received approval from the city, the River Campus board of managers and other downtown organizations is the Fountain Street corridor. Construction on this broad avenue with wide traffic lanes separated by a median, on-street parking, sidewalks and landscaping is scheduled for construction this summer in hopes the street will be ready when the bridge opens. (Recent weather and other factors indicate the bridge may not open to traffic until early 2004.)

One part of the Fountain Street project that needs careful review is the new street's intersection with Highway 74. Anyone who takes Lorimier Street today to Morgan Oak to get on the old bridge knows the hazards of making a left turn onto Morgan Oak with no signals. It's easy to imagine that this situation will only be worse at the Fountain-Highway 74 intersection, thanks to the bridge route's four lanes of traffic.

Current plans call for stop signs on Fountain at that intersection. Members of the River Campus board of managers have said they would like to see traffic signals, but the Missouri Department of Transportation isn't planning signals at this time.

It would be a shame to create an attractive access to the downtown area only to make it difficult for motorists to get back on Highway 74, particularly those wanting to turn left to cross the bridge.

There may be a way to get signals now. It's worth a closer look.