Business Today

Motorists who travel through the new Mount Auburn-Independence intersection in Cape Girardeau won't have to feel they are on a go-cart track much longer.

The city plans to eliminate the sharp jog for southbound traffic by widening Mount Auburn north of the intersection so the transition from four lanes to five lanes is more gradual, said city engineer Mark Lester.

The added work, which got under way last week, will cost the city more than $10,000 and should be completed within two weeks, he said.

The biggest problem: a sudden jog right, indicated by a yellow-striped median, followed by a choice of two lanes going straight and one going left. Because the median isn't raised, most drivers began rolling right over the yellow markings minutes after traffic lights were turned on Aug. 29.

Lester said the scheduled improvements by the contractor, Lappe Cement Finishing of Perryville, Mo., should solve the problem.