Ramsey Creek Corridor to open Tuesday in Scott City

After two years of construction, the new outer road that connects the two ends of Scott City at routes K and AB officially will open Tuesday following a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The ceremony will mark the completion of what is known as the Ramsey Creek Project, construction of which began in 2010. An almost three-mile length of road that partially runs parallel to Interstate 55, the road is intended to reduce the long lines of traffic exiting Scott City in the mornings and coming into town in the evenings.

"There's a whole lot of commuter traffic going north in the morning," said Eric Krapf, project manager for the Missouri Department of Transportation. "The morning lines that form on Route K to access the interstate can be a mile or more. Then there's the line on the interstate to get back into town at the end of the workday. With the new road, we think people will like not having to fight their way through town to reach the interstate or having to use the familiar interstate way back home."

Krapf added that the new outer road is the second attempt by MoDOT to ease congestion in Scott City.

"The first phase was adding more turn lanes to U.S. 61 and Route K in 2003," he said. "It eased congestion some, but it was seen as a short-term solution to a long-term problem. We all knew it was going to take more than that to fix the problem."

Scott City officials and residents then came up with the idea of new road to I-55 to ease the traffic problem. But that presented a new problem: money.

"We knew it was going to take a lot of money for the project to be worthwhile," said Ron Eskew, Scott City city manager. "Scott County, Scott City, MoDOT and other groups committed funds, but it only came to about $600,000. Then we approached Sen. Kit Bond."

Eskew said Bond personally came to Scott City to observe the traffic conditions and afterward procured funds for the project in 2005.

"Kit Bond came through for us," Eskew said. "With his seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, $5 million was earmarked for the project."

Bond, when reached Thursday at his office in St. Louis, said he knew the money would go a long way.

"This was for a road that would do some good once it was finished," Bond said. "I saw the traffic problem down there myself and wanted to help. Mind you, we got it done by working with the local officials, who a lot of the time know more about what's going on than do Washington politicians."

Bond said that he had help in getting the funds to Scott City.

"Jo Ann Emerson and I worked as a team," he said. "She carried the ball for the project over in the House."

Attempts to reach Congresswoman Emerson about the project were unsuccessful as of Saturday afternoon.

Once funding was secured and studies for the new route were conducted and reviewed, groundbreaking for the project took place in October 2010. Since then, the new road has been paved and a new bridge has been built, necessary as the road travels over Ramsey Creek.

Krapf said there were only a few snags along the way, one of which involved the soil in the path of the project.

"We had issues with what is called 'settlement,'" he said. "It's like putting your hand firmly on a mattress; the part under your hand gives. That's what happened with the soil in some spots when we tried to lay down concrete. We installed drains to fight the problem. That and the overall weather we encountered set back completion a few months."

Now that the road has been finished, Eskew hopes people will remember its primary purpose.

"This was all done to move the traffic," he said. "I'm hoping it will siphon between 60 and 70 percent of the current traffic away from town, but I'd be happy if it reduced traffic levels by only 50 percent, too."

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be at 10 a.m. at 1400 E. Outer Road in Scott City. The public is invited to attend, and scheduled speakers include Tom Schulte on behalf of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt; a congressional staffer on behalf of Rep. Emerson; State Rep. Steve Hodges; Scott County Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger; and MoDOT assistant district engineer Matt Seiler.

klewis@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

1400 East Outer Road, Scott City, Mo.