By SCOTT MOYERS

Southeast Missourian

Drivers have been unnerved by the noticeable absence of roadway striping on portions of U.S. 61 -- East Jackson Boulevard in Jackson and Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau -- but state road crews have put the lines back in place.

The work finished Friday afternoon, except for a few touch-up spots, said Missouri Department of Transportation project manager Rick Lamb.

A few arrows and stop bars still need to be painted, Lamb said, which should be completed in a matter of days.

"We've been working on this every day that we could," Lamb said. "It all should be pretty much like it was. It's done. It all should be striped now."

The final 40 feet on striping was finished Friday, a section between Broadway and Cape Rock Drive.

The last of East Jackson Boulevard's striping was completed last week, he said.

Rain and cold caused the crews to miss a few days of work recently, pushing back the completion date by a few days.

"There were a few days we weren't able to work until it dried off enough after a rain," he said. "And you can't stripe when it's real cold. The paint is supposed to be put down when it's above 50 degrees."

U.S. 61 was repaved and restriped as part of the Smooth Roads Initiative, which is aimed at making 2,200 miles of highways smoother and safer by Dec. 31.

The initiative, begun after the passage of Amendment 3 in 2004, is intended to improve the state's busiest roads. Slightly more than 85 percent of Missourians live within 10 miles of at least one of the roads targeted for work.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137