Cape Girardeau voters to decide future of road maintenance with Transportation Trust Fund 7

Cape Girardeau city voters will decide whether they want to continue Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) projects for another five years in the Tuesday, April 8, general election.

Transportation Trust Fund 7 is a 0.5% sales tax that will cover the cost of street maintenance projects. TTFs have been renewed every five years since 1995.

The projects to be included in TTF 7, with $2 million reserved for safety improvements and contingency:

General maintenance projects

• ​asphalt maintenance and overlay: five-year cost, $3 million;
• concrete repair: five-year cost, $7.25 million;
• streetscape and sidewalk: five-year cost, $1.25 million.

Specific projects

• Mount Auburn Road from Hopper Road to Independence Street — estimated cost: $5.5 million;
• Perryville Road from Cape Rock Drive to Perry Avenue — estimated cost: $3.5 million;
• South Sprigg Street from William Street to Highway 74 — estimated cost: $4.5 million.

Alternate specific projects

• Mount Auburn Road from North Kingshighway to Hopper Road — estimated cost: $3.5 million;
• William Street from Sheridan Drive to South West End Boulevard — estimated cost: $4 million.

The projects were determined by the TTF committee, which held hearings and surveys to receive public input to find what streets needed the most attention. Committee chairman Jeff Maurer presented the projects to the Cape Girardeau City Council on Dec. 2. The council approved placing TTF 7 on the April ballot Dec. 16.

Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) 7 committee chairman Jeff Maurer presents the full road project list to the Cape Girardeau City Council on Dec. 2 at City Hall.Nathan Gladden ~ ngladden@semissourian.com, file

Maurer said in a Dec. 2 Southeast Missourian article that, based on public input, many citizens favored spending money on maintaining existing roads in the city instead of building new ones.

"We're looking at a decade in our city where we're spending tens of millions of dollars on general maintenance of our existing roads and not building a new city street in the short term," Maurer said in the article.

In a Feb. 14 article, Mayor Stacy Kinder told the Southeast Missourian the fund has been crucial for the city. Kinder said she was excited to see TTF 7 on the ballot.

The council also approved amending the ballot language for TTF 7. The amended ballot language reads:

"Shall the City of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, impose a sales tax of one-half of one percent for transportation purposes, such transportation sales tax extension to expire on December 31, 2030? This sales tax shall provide revenue for the Transportation Trust Fund 7."