Group looks to link new bridge, downtown

A year away from the completion of the Emerson Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River, a downtown group has begun preliminary design work for a corridor that will connect the bridge with downtown.

Old Town Cape, a group set up to represent local business interests, has hired Bowen Engineering and Surveying to begin the design work on the Fountain Street extension, which will be submitted to the city.

"This is the first step to a very large process," said Catherine Dunlap, executive director of Old Town Cape.

The city council has already approved the concept -- the project from Highway 74 to Morgan Oak was once part of the city's capital improvement projects, but the council altered the plans to go around the proposed Southeast Missouri State University River Campus.

The street would begin near the base of the bridge at Highway 74 and be built along the old Missouri Pacific Railroad Co. route just east of the track bed. The street would run near the River Campus site, through Morgan Oak and Good Hope streets before ending at William Street near Indian Park.

Money set aside

The city has $250,000 set aside for the project from the highway to Morgan Oak. That money could be used to match grants, said city planner Kent Bratton.

Dunlap said she hopes the entire corridor will be built in a boulevard style with a median. The original vision has three roundabouts included in the project to keep a smoother traffic flow, but there are still many details to iron out before designs go to the city.

"It's a wait-and-see kind of thing," said Dunlap. "We're looking at finding out how much space we'll have to deal with."

Dunlap said she was certain the entire street will be lined with trees and sidewalks.

Once the preliminary design work is completed, Old Town Cape in conjunction with the city will apply for a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant from the state. Dunlap said the city and Old Town Cape will also apply for a federal transportation grant -- called TEA-21 -- which is designed to subsidize transportation enhancement. It is not yet known how much Cape Girardeau could get from the federal grant, but Dunlap said she is certain that Cape Girardeau qualifies and is fairly confident that the city will be awarded grant money.

She said she has been told that because the corridor is part of a bigger downtown development scheme, that it will have a better chance of being awarded grant money.

'Utmost importance'

Councilwoman Evelyn Boardman, a longtime downtown business owner, said this project is "of the utmost importance."

"I don't want the bridge to bypass this side of town," she said. "With the federal building coming, with the state offices in the Marquette, we need an entry point."

If the situation remains as it is now, commuters or visitors from Illinois would have to turn right on Sprigg and then backtrack three or four blocks to get to the downtown.

Jerry Ford, who is on the River Campus Board of Managers, also endorsed the idea, especially if the River Campus goes through and traffic in the area increases.

Bratton said the capital improvement project was slated for 2003-04, but said the issue of the River Campus, which has been the subject of lawsuits, needs to be resolved before the city tackles the Fountain Street corridor.

James Coley, who owns Rose Bed Inn, a bed and breakfast along Highway 74, said he's in favor of the project, but would like to see beautification measures extended west on 74 as well as north toward the downtown district.

Coley has personally made efforts to thwart billboard companies from erecting billboard along Highway 74. He's also concerned that gas stations and truck stops will darken what could be an elegant entrance to the city.

"I'd like some positive attention given to the large residential neighborhood south of 74," Coley said. Speaking of his own property and business, he said, "Everything we own is invested in this property. This is our retirement, our 401(k), so my future depends on what happens to this property."

bmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127