Hopper Road set to reopen Wednesday; two Cape city street projects near completion

Motorists may receive an early Christmas present in Cape Girardeau as two road projects — the Veterans Memorial Drive extension and the Independence Street roundabout — are nearing completion.

Hopper Road, which has been closed for months in connection with the extension of Veterans Memorial Drive, is scheduled to reopen today, city officials said.

The move will be particularly welcome to Twin Lakes subdivision residents who have had to make lengthy detours while Hopper Road has been closed for the past five months.

City manager Scott Meyer told the City Council earlier this week the goal was to reopen Hopper Road to traffic before the Thanksgiving holiday.

City officials said two sections of new pavement on Hopper Road will have to be replaced after the holiday.

But city engineer Casey Brunke said the work can be done without entirely closing the street.

Brunke said, “Anything can go wrong during construction.”

The two concrete sections dried too quickly, she said.

“You can certainly drive on it. Structurally, it can hold up,” she said.

But the surface is rough, Brunke said.

“It probably wouldn’t last as long and it sure doesn’t look pretty,” she said.

Paving work remains to be done on the extension of Veterans Memorial Drive from Scenic Drive south to the Hopper Road connection. The work is being done by R.L. Persons Construction Co. of Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

Utilities have been installed along the route, and the grading has been done.

Besides paving the new roadway, located just east of Interstate 55, the contractor still has to install sidewalks, Brunke said.

Sidewalks will be built on the east side of the new Veterans Memorial Drive and connect with sidewalks on Hopper Road.

“We will have a really awesome set of sidewalks once this is complete,” Brunke said.

The construction schedule was delayed by wet weather this summer, Brunke said.

As a result, she said, it could be another six weeks before the $1.68 million road project is completed.

As for the roundabout at Independence Street and East Rodney Drive, it is scheduled for completion by Dec. 3.

The entire intersection has been closed to traffic since early October.

Construction work near the intersection began in August when the city closed Gordonville Road at Independence Street to facilitate relocation of underground utilities.

The work has shut down a major east-west traffic artery in the city, forcing motorists to use other routes.

This will be the city’s fourth roundabout. The Independence Street roundabout will be less costly to maintain than traffic signals and improve traffic safety, according to city officials.

Fronabarger Concreters is the contractor on the $741,000 project. Federal grant money is paying 80 percent of the cost. The city’s sales-tax-funded transportation trust fund is covering the remainder.

Much of the construction has been completed, Brunke said.

Some paving work remains to be done on the East Rodney approach to the single-lane roundabout, she said.

The center island will be landscaped with flowers and shrubs. Montgomery Bank has adopted the landscaping, the city engineer said.

She said the roundabout is “being prepped” with cutouts to accommodate future sidewalks.

The city is seeking a federal grant through the Missouri Department of Transportation to pay for construction of sidewalks in the area.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641