MoDOT rep makes festive report

A song, a smile and a Santa hat. That's all it took for Scott Meyer to inject a festive spirit into the Show Me Center gathering at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee.

The Missouri Department of Transportation engineer donned a red and white cap, cracked some jokes and regaled the crowd with a customized Christmas carol as he gave his report on what MoDOT has done for Cape Girardeau over the past year.

"First and foremost, we gave Cape Girardeau worldwide exposure," Meyer said, jokingly referring to the widely publicized September demolition snafu that sent the remainder of the old Mississippi River bridge into the river, temporarily blocking water traffic.

He then turned to more serious accomplishments by listing them in his own rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

"On the first day of Christmas, MoDOT gave to Cape, a traffic signal at Farrar Drive," Meyer sang, straining to hold the key. He was referring to the recently completed signal at Farrar Drive and William Street. Meyer added that it is an intersection that sees as much traffic as that of Interstate 55 and Lindbergh Boulevard in St. Louis.

The song went on to list the two new turn lanes at Mount Auburn Road and William Street, four lanes across the river with the completion of Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge and five lanes over the Diversion Channel on I-55. The rest of the numbers were dedicated to the engineers, road workers and other people who work for the department and who he said deserve the public's respect.

"These people are picking up dead dogs that are bloated and nasty," Meyer said. "They do it because they know they're public servants."

choward@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137