The Cape Girardeau City Council sent state and city engineers back to the drawing board Monday night on plans for turning part of Kingsway into a right-turn lane for Kingshighway.

Council members requested more traffic studies to determine the impact of making Kingsway a dead-end road.

City and state highway engineers had proposed closing a section of Kingsway just north of the south entrance to St. Andrew Lutheran Church and turning the road into a right-turn lane for Kingshighway at Cape Rock Drive.

Near the intersection, Kingshighway and Kingsway run parallel to each other, only a few feet apart.

City Engineer J. Kensey Russell said the plan offers an economical way to improve traffic congestion on Kingshighway. The state has proposed paying the cost of such an improvement.

But St. Andrew Lutheran Church leaders expressed concern at a public hearing Monday night that making Kingsway a dead-end street would lead more motorists to use the church parking lot as a connecting road to Cape Rock Drive.

Ken Voepel, who operates an insurance agency, said turning the street into a dead end would hurt his business.