CITY TAKES SECOND LOOK AT STREET PROJECTS

Widening Broadway Street might take a little longer than planned as the city re-evaluates the cost estimates of the project.

The Cape Girardeau City Council voted Monday to reject all bids on the work because they were not within the range of the estimates for the project.

Widening Broadway is part of the Transportation Trust Fund. In 1995, residents passed a half-cent sales tax to fund 20 local street improvement projects.

The Cape Girardeau Engineering Department had cost estimates of $2,163,377.50 to widen and reconstruct Broadway from Clark Avenue to Perry Avenue. Traffic light upgrades also were included with the project.

The three bids the city received, however, ranged from $2,434,649.98 to $2,639,309. The bids far exceed the estimated cost of the project.

"We are going to review our estimates," said Mayor Al Spradling III. "Maybe the price of materials has gone up. These estimates were made several months ago."

Spradling said the city might have to find ways to save money with the project to get a lower bid.

He said one way to do that would be to close down sections of Broadway instead of keeping the road open during the construction.

"This way, they could work quicker," Spradling said.

In other business, the council approved an ordinance prohibiting residents from placing advertisements on street signs.

It already is illegal to unlawfully put notices on lampposts, public utility poles, shade trees and private buildings. Under the new legislation, street signs are included in the prohibition of unlawful advertisements and notices.

The council also appointed J.J. Williamson to fill a vacancy on the city's Ethics Commission.

Williamson owns the Allstate Insurance Co. in Cape Girardeau. He has been a past city councilman and the past chairman of the city's Public Awareness Committee. He also is a member of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Minority Affairs Commission at Southeast Missouri State University.