Street projects presented to Cape City Council

The Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) 7 road project list was presented to the Cape Girardeau City Council on Monday, Dec. 2, at City Hall.

TTF 7 committee chairman Jeff Maurer presented the list to the council along with projected costs. The list contains projects that are designated for general maintenance and specified projects; it also includes alternate projects.

Maurer told the council the committee hosted two public hearings in August and also had an online survey that gained altogether 600 submissions. He said the surveys were there to collect input from people on what they want to see done with TTF.

Maurer said committee members compiled information from the 600 submissions into a list of 20 projects. He said some of the project suggestions were eliminated because they were going to be worked on through TTFs 5 and 6, they were under the jurisdiction of the Missouri Department of Transportation or some of the projects were under prior TTFs but were determined unable to go forward.

He said the committee then reduced the list down to 10 projects, scored them on different criteria and then reached out for feedback from residents again in November. Maurer said they generally followed the public input they received in the project list the committee was recommending to the council.

The projects included for 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.

Maurer said through the comments they have received there "is a clear bias" that people want to see TTF money spent on maintaining existing roads.

"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; that's what our citizens are telling us they want in the long term," Maurer said.

He said the fact that so much money is going to be spent on maintenance could have its own consequences. Maurer said he has received feedback from business leaders saying that at some point the city needs to get back to funding new capital improvement projects.

Ward 4 Councilman David Cantrell asked Maurer how they balance "public sentiment versus the growth demand". Cantrell said there needs to be some connections to LaSalle Avenue, especially from SportsPlex.

Maurer said there was discussion about a project surrounding Veterans Memorial Drive that would extend the current dead end to LaSalle Avenue. He said there is a safety concern in that area with how many vehicles come from the SportsPlex with "only one way in and out".

He said the project would have probably scored higher if the recommendations were based solely on the personal opinions of the committee. Maurer said the project scored ninth on one of the public input forums.

Mayor Stacy Kinder thanked the committee members for their efforts in coming up with the TTF list and the council will consider the decision to place the TTF 7 list on the April 2025 election ballot.