TRAFFIC THROUGH CAPE'S WEST END NEEDS A FIRM GUIDING HAND

The good news is that Cape Girardeau's busy west end commercial area is booming. Retail stores, restaurants, cinemas, office buildings and hotels are increasing at a rapid pace in the area west of Interstate 55 between Route K and Bloomfield Road.

The bad news is that traffic in the area is becoming more congested every day. The Missouri Department of Transportation continues to make adjustments in the traffic flow from Route K to Siemers Drive, the main thoroughfare serving the west end complex. Traveling through the I-55/Route K interchange was greatly improved last year in a reconstruction project that added lanes and signals.

Sometime later this year, if all goes according to plan, even more traffic will be funneled toward Siemers Drive when the Highway 74 access route between the new Emerson Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River and I-55 is completed. Sometime next year, Siemers Drive will be connected to the new bridge route, giving the busy area two interstate connections, the existing one on the north and the new one on the south.

Plans are being made to improve one congested link within the commercial beehive: The Siemers Drive/Lowes Drive intersection is scheduled for improvements that are expected to eliminate some problems for motorists.

Meanwhile, residential development is booming along Bloomfield Road. And development to the west along Route K is picking up, with two new parochial schools planned for the near future.

With all of this, it is no wonder that motorists going to the west end area -- or past it -- are asking about other major improvements. For example:

-- Bloomfield Road. Part of a city sales tax for street improvements that was approved by voters in 1995 call for major work on Bloomfield Road from Kingshighway to I-55. Some thought should be given to including extending that project past I-55 at least beyond the entrance to Siemers Drive.

-- Route K. The state transportation department continue to monitor traffic needs along Route K near the west end commercial area. Eventually, another set of signals may be needed, particularly when the new parochial schools open.

-- Siemers Drive. This two-lane thoroughfare carries virtually all of the traffic that finds its way to the west end complex. With the potential for even far greater development in the area, some thought needs to be given to widening Siemers Drive and even to the possibility of adding signals at some of the busiest turning points along this main street.

Having to deal with the future of traffic flows in a major commercial area is certainly a good problem for city planners, developers and the state transportation department. Finding solutions before major traffic congestion builds up, however, seems to make good sense.

As the west end continues to expand and attract more and more people to Cape Girardeau, it can only be hoped that the thousands of vehicles will be able to get in and out and that traffic snarls won't become a barrier to shoppers.