CHIEF ENGINEER TO CALL IT QUITS

Wayne Muri sat at the head table for the last time during the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's annual Highway Dinner Wednesday night.

As of June 30, 1994, Muri will be leaving his post as chief engineer for the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department. He held the job for eight years.

Muri, a civil engineer, has been with the department since 1956. He was in charge of the department's District 5 office before becoming chief engineer.

"Thirty-seven years is a long time," Muri said Tuesday. "It was a very tough decision on my part to leave when I have had the continuous support of the governor, the commission I work for and communities like Cape Girardeau who have made what I do so enjoyable."

Muri cites one of his major accomplishments during his tenure as chief engineer as putting in place good, long-range highway improvement programs with adequate funding to accompany them.

"I've also worked hard to try and reshape the department to one that can truly and effectively respond to what the public needs and wants," said Muri. "We also try to build a philosophy or culture within the department to continually improve the way we build and maintain roads and serve the public."

One of Muri's pet projects has been the new Mississippi River bridge in Cape Girardeau, construction of which is due to begin in 1995.

"I have good news and bad news about the bridge," Muri said. "The good news is that we are proceeding with our very first contract to begin a connecting route to the interstate, which is about half-done at this time.

"We have also acquired about three-fourths of the right of way needed to complete the corridor and we should have all the land we need by 1994," he continued. "We are also within a month of entering into a contract for the actual final design of the bridge."

All in all, Muri said the bridge project is progressing steadily, with one catch. "We're not getting proper funding from Illinois, and right now we're seeking additional federal funds," he said.

"We hope to be positioned to start construction in 1995, but we do not yet have a solidified funding source for the bridge itself from Illinois," Muri continued. "That whole issue is still up in the air."

The bridge itself is scheduled to cost as much as $70 million to build. That figure does not include the connecting corridor to Interstate 55.

One thing the highway department has under control, Muri said, is the damage wrought by the flooding of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers this year.

"The floods had a tremendous devastating effect, especially through mid-Missouri along the Missouri River," said Muri. "But our department has repaired almost all the roads in a very short period of time; we're in excellent shape right now."

Muri said that he put a great deal of thought into his decision to leave the highway department, and he's not leaving without some reluctance.