LaSalle Avenue in Cape close to opening

By the end of this week, LaSalle Avenue could -- with the emphasis on could -- be open to traffic, Cape Girardeau city engineer Kelly Green said Tuesday.

With final cleanup work underway, the breakdown of a road striping machine delayed one of the final, vital touches -- marking the lanes for motorists. Once that is completed -- Green said she has been told it should begin Thursday -- the road will be opened and a formal ribbon cutting will be scheduled.

LaSalle Avenue connects the new Interstate 55 interchange at mile 102 with Route W. Once completed, residents of Jackson who work in Cape Girardeau will have a new option that will avoid U.S. 61, also known as Jackson Boulevard and Kingshighway, and I-55.

"We are very close," she said.

The opening of LaSalle Avenue will mark the last step of the initial development at the new interchange. Jackson finished extending East Main Street to the new exits last year. The interchange was originally proposed as a shared project of Jackson, Cape Girardeau, Cape Girardeau County and Southeast Missouri State University, which owns the land on three of the four corners. In 2005, federal lawmakers U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and then-U.S. Sen. Jim Talent combined their efforts to earmark $10.8 million for the project, freeing the locally committed funds to build the connecting roads.

Weather problems

Construction of LaSalle Avenue was beset by weather problems over the winter and spring, pushing back the opening date. "Obviously we have been faced with some setbacks in the construction and development of LaSalle," Mayor Jay Knudtson said. "I wouldn't be completely forthright if I told you there were some things that occurred that I wasn't disappointed in."

But the big picture, Knudtson said, is that LaSalle Avenue has gone from being a concept to a reality in a little over four years. "It has come to fruition in a rapid time frame," he said.

Plans for construction of outer roads along I-55 are in motion in both Jackson and Cape Girardeau, with Jackson further along with the project.

Along with the interchange, the university and both cities had hoped to have announced plans for developing the university property by now. But THF Realty, the Wal-Mart-connected developer chosen to work on the project, suspended those plans as the economy, especially retail sales, began to sour in 2007.

While big plans for the university property have been put on hold, Ryland "Dutch" Meyr, owner of Fruitland Dressed Meats, is moving to bring properties he owns outright and in partnership with others into the city.

The Cape Girardeau City Council on Monday set public hearings for late September on his request to annex 49.7 acres owned by Norwald Inc. and 58.3 acres owned by Meyr Properties LP. An additional tract is promised for annexation within three years.

A planning consultant is under contract to work on a commercial and residential development for the area, Meyr said. With no water, sewer or electrical service in place, Meyr said the development process will take time.

"It is premature on everything," he said. "We are years away from much happening. It is kind of a two- to 20-year project the way I am looking at it."

Meyr said he has agreements with the city, crafted when the right of way across his land was purchased, on a schedule for installing water and sewers. He added that he recently contacted utilities about other infrastructure.

But before those developments take place, Knudtson said, he expects Jackson traffic to be a major user of the road as well as Route W. "It will open up traffic for many of the folks in the county and many folks in Jackson, and I think it will really serve to force us to take a hard look at the increased volume," he said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Interstate 55, Missouri