The City of Cape Girardeau boasts plenty of fun activities, a lively downtown, and multiple subdivisions, but all of that traffic can cause more stress on the roadways.
While it might cause more delays and longer travel times, the City of Cape Girardeau is planning more construction projects and improvements to the roads around town.
City engineer Jake Garrard said that there is a break in projects right now, but there are plans for more road work to start soon.
“So in the city of Cape, at the moment, we are finishing up quite a few projects, and we're trying to get quite a few more going, so there is a slight lull at the moment, a nice little break for the motorists; they don't have to dodge as many detours at the moment,” Garrard said.
A big project that is awaiting approval includes the north side of Sprigg St. and will affect a part of SEMO. This will complete almost all of Sprigg St. to have new improvements within the last ten years.
“We're actually working as we speak to get N. Sprigg out the door. It will be a very big project that will be ongoing for us if we think about the next 2 years, a 24-month project. It will go from Broadway all the way up to Lexington, so SEMO will be impacted. We've been working with facilities management to make sure that we are in communication and coordinating everything nicely,” Garrard said.
Garrard said most of the new projects have been requested by citizens, and the city is working hard to make sure these expectations are met by paving roadways and fixing potholes.
“We've listened to our citizens; they've asked us to maintain our roads to make them nice, make them drivable, get rid of as many potholes as possible, and that is what we're working to accomplish,” Garrard said.
Garrard said one of the big projects that is getting finished up right now is the construction on Sprigg St.
“We just finished up our S. Sprigg St. project where we did about six or seven blocks of S. Sprigg. It was a water main replacement. We did some sewer line work, brand new pavement. We widened the road to make it a little easier for people to park on the street and traffic to flow. Then we fixed all the sidewalks to bring them up to ADA compliance,” Garrard said.
The roads in Cape Girardeau see quite a bit of traffic, which can be hard on pavement and cause more frequent roadwork to be done.
“So our roadways see a lot of use; we have a lot of motorists through town, so our roads get beat up, and they break down, and so we have to keep an eye on them, keep them maintained so that it is still usable to everyone,” Garrard said.
These projects are not just paving improvements but also include work being done to sidewalks across town.
“We're working on sidewalks along Cape Rock Drive from Kingshighway to the east; that project is well underway, should be done maybe early spring, and it is just adding sidewalks to one of our thoroughfares to try to make some more pedestrian connections,” Garrard said.
Garrard said that fixing potholes is something most of the community can benefit from and adding sidewalks can be beneficial to the city and the people of Cape Girardeau.
“In ease of traffic, getting rid of the potholes is something that everyone enjoys. The sidewalk projects add not only beauty but utility to our city. Not everyone has a vehicle, not everyone wants to use a vehicle at all times, so we have a large city; you can get around pretty easily on bicycles or on foot, and we try to keep that in mind,” Garrard said.
With the winter months approaching, Garrard said that the construction could be delayed but hopes that the nice fall weather continues for a little bit longer and helps keep the construction projects on time.
“If there's ice and snow and zero-degree weather, it's not good for construction. If we have a mild winter, our contractors will keep rolling right through it. We've had a nice fall so far. This weather is very conducive to getting some stuff done,” Garrard said.
Garrard said that they ask everyone to pay attention to the roadwork and be aware of their surroundings as these projects are underway to help make for a smoother and safer process as the road work continues.
“As always, we ask our motorists to be very careful in construction zones. Please use the detours that are set out. If you have to be in the construction zones, use caution for us,” Garrard said.
The Arrow, a student-run news publication at Southeast Missouri State University, originally published this story.