NEW PLAN COULD SPEED UP CENTER JCT. WORK

Plans for completing improvements to the interchange known as Center Junction are moving ahead. Key to the project is the capture of sales-tax revenue from development at the intersection. Local developer Jim Drury stands ready to guarantee repayment of interest on bonds up to $1 million, if the dedicated sales-tax revenue he projects doesn't prove sufficient to meet these interest payments.

The contract to provide the $1 million bond is to be signed with a transportation corporation composed of the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson as well as Cape Girardeau County. Formation of the corporation awaits approval by the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission, which will consider the project at either its September or October meetings. If the corporation is certified, general revenue bonds will be issued and a contract signed between the highway commission and Drury. Construction of the estimated $5 million in improvements could then begin in 2001 instead of 2004, the year the commission had planned to begin it. Such a corporation is new in this region, but this method has facilitated completion of other projects around the state.

The general revenue bonds issued by the corporation would service the debt until the Missouri Department of Transportation buys back the improvements. The local governments would pay the interest on the bonds, which would be due on Dec. 31, 2005. Drury estimates that the commercial properties will generate $78 million in sales by 2005, which would produce about $1.1 million in tax revenue. Under the contract, he would have until 2007 to meet his projections and avoid making up whatever difference is owed in interest.

This innovative device may just be a way to spur needed improvements for a heavily traveled Cape County intersection. Let's hope so.