GROUP HIRED FOR HIGHWAY 34 STUDY

The Missouri Department of Transportation is taking the first steps in a study to determine improvements to Highway 34 from Jackson to Van Buren.

MoDOT has picked QST Infrastructure Inc. of St. Louis to complete the study on the 85-mile stretch of highway.

QST will be responsible for writing an environmental impact document and performing a site study on the proposed improvements, said DawnRae Clark, MoDot project manager.

QST will pick the final sites for any realignment of Highway 34 in conjunction with the state highway department, Clark said.

The study will take about two years, she said, and construction won't start before 2005 or 2006, depending on the improvements needed.

"We're at nearly the beginning of the process," Clark said. "They have to collect some traffic data, maybe an origins and destinations study. They need to gather environmental constraints data, particularly in the areas around Piedmont and Marble Hill, so they'll be developing other alternatives."

In addition, QST and MoDOT will get input from communities along the route on needed improvements, she said.

The study will cover Highway 34 from its junction with Highway 72 at Jackson to Highway 60 in Van Buren, she said, "with the possibility of a connection to Interstate 55."

MoDOT is now working on a site study for a proposed Highway 34/72 bypass from Jackson to Cape Girardeau.

The results of the bypass study -- also being conducted by QST -- will be taken into account during the site study for the Highway 34 improvements, Clark said.

"The Route 34 study will still be in its infancy when the bypass study is completed," she said.

Residents along the route, which passes through Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Wayne, Reynolds and Carter counties, say the highway is dangerous in spots and too narrow.

Traffic counts vary widely along the highway, Clark said. Near Piedmont, more than 6,000 cars a day use the highway.

"But there are stretches in Bollinger County where it's under 1,000 vehicles a day, and as you get closer to Cape, you're looking 3,000 or 4,000 vehicles a day," Clark said.

MoDOT will study the possibility of creating a "super-two" highway, which is a two-lane route with shoulders, as well as straightening, grading or relocating some segments of the highway, Clark said.

The highway department held a series of public meetings in March to get input from motorists on what improvements are needed.

That input will be included in the final study, Clark said.