Growing traffic congestion at the Route K/I-55 interchange should be dealt with during 1995 when the bridge over the interstate is replaced.

A contract for the project let in January will reconstruct the bridge to seven lanes.

There will be two traffic lanes in each direction, a double left turn lane for southbound traffic on I-55, and a single left turn lane for northbound traffic on I-55.

Larry Rohr, district highway design engineer, said the project is scheduled to be completed by Dec. 1. Work will get under way soon.

Commercial and residential development on the west side of I-55 the last few years has caused the traffic congestion, and with more growth coming the problem is only going to increase.

Another project moving along is the extension of Nash Road from I-55 into the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority.

The first contract for the project, let in August, was for the grading work from Ramsey Creek to the port authority. In the spring of 1996, a second contract will be let to grade from the railroad and rail spur east to Route K, and to construct a bridge over the railroad.

Paving will start in 1997 and likely will be finished in 1999.

Rohr stressed that all phases of the project are subject to the availability of funding.

Completion of the Nash Road extension will provide better access to the port authority and also will provide another entrance into Scott City.

Another project beginning is a location study for the planned upgrades and relocation of Highways 25, 34, and 72.

A consultant, Environmental Science and Engineering of St. Louis, was hired last fall, and the scope of services is now being finalized.

The firm will hold public hearings around the area to decide where the highways will emerge from the Cape and Jackson areas. Another consideration will be how the roads relate to other highways in the region, including the new Mississippi River Bridge route.

Missouri's 15-year highway plan calls for the eventual upgrading of the roadways. The plan calls for improvements of Highway 34 from Jackson to Van Buren; of Highway 72 from Jackson to Fredericktown; and of Highway 25 from Jackson to Kennett.

Some of the other highway projects under discussion for this area are a re-design of the I-55/Highway 61 interchange between Cape and Jackson, and planning for a future interchange between Highway 61 and Fruitland that will tie in with Jackson's planned East Main Street extension.