Cape officials seek input for Broadway corridor project

When Renee Roark Gordon looks at Broadway, she sees a row of intermittently shoddy buildings along a roadway in desperate need of attention. So if a nearly $4 million road improvement project slated to begin this fall costs her business a few dollars and creates a temporary inconvenience for customers, so be it.

"Broadway is kind of in limbo right now," said Roark Gordon, who owns a tattoo studio that has been on Broadway for three years. "To me, it can go in one of two directions -- extremely rundown and seedy or it is going to improve. They've decided to save it."

Cape Girardeau city planners are hopeful that other business owners along the Broadway corridor project's 3,500-foot stretch from Pacific to Water streets feel the same way. An open house is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. July 12 at the First Presbyterian Church at 235 Broadway.

"We really want people to come to the open house to tell us what they think," said project manager Casey Brunke of the city engineer's office. "We want to see what the public wants because we want to do a project that they're happy with."

The open house will not be about the entire project, which includes $2.85 million from voter-approved Transportation Trust Fund money to resurface the roadway; replace sidewalks, curbs and gutters; and relocate overhead utility lines. The city, Brunke said, is particularly interested in hearing the public's thoughts about the second portion of the project, which includes $1 million for a streetscape, which covers landscape design, intersection improvements, parking possibilities and different designs for the alleyways. The $1 million came from proceeds from the city's land sale to Isle of Capri Casinos.

The public will be asked to weigh in on two possible schematics about the streetscape, Brunke said, though she declined to discuss specifics saying they both would be unveiled at the open house.

"We're really excited about both of them," Brunke said. "Ultimately, from that meeting we'll have the schematic we're going to use to design Broadway."

The city won't automatically go with the plan that gets the most favorable comments, she said, but public comments will carry "considerable weight" in the decision-making process.

Once a proposal is chosen, Brunke said, city consultants will actually design the schematics, taking resident comments into consideration. The project will be let for bids in the early fall just before the busy construction period. City planners hope construction can begin shortly after with a completion date by December 2012 -- in time for the opening of Isle of Capri's casino.

The entire project will be done in phases, either by block or every two blocks, Brunke said, in order to keep Broadway open to traffic and to diminish the impact on businesses.

"We understand we have to keep traffic open while we're working," she said.

While past city projects on Broadway have drawn complaints from business owners about lost profits, Marla Mills of the downtown promotional organization Old Town Cape said she hasn't been hearing that about this project. Mills has been talking to business owners and said they seem to understand it's a "no pain, no gain" situation.

"I get the sense from business owners that they're ready for something to happen," Mills said. "They understand that it's not necessarily going to be a fun process, but it's going to be worth it on the other side. We know the consultants have committed to make the whole process as painless as possible."

Andrew Johnson's Broadway comic book store sits along project's path, too. He agreed that having road crews in front of his business for any length of time probably won't widen his profit margins. But an improved Broadway means a nicer looking storefront for him, he said.

"Anything to polish up Broadway is going to be good," Johnson said. "There will be traffic problems for a minute or two, but that's part of it. I'm not overly worried about it."

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Broadway, from Pacific to Water streets, Cape Girardeau, MO

235 Broadway St., Cape Girardeau, MO