SEMO assumes Cape downtown street project

Business Today

The director of Old Town Cape is disappointed that a street project that she and the rest of the group put so much time and effort into has been taken away.

But Catherine Dunlap isn't dejected now that Southeast Missouri State University is involved in the first phase of the Fountain Street corridor.

Dunlap says she sees the big-picture benefits of having the university take over the design plans of the first phase of project.

The change could mean the street will be finished sooner.

Old Town Cape, a group focused on revitalization of the city's historic downtown district, had already hired an engineering firm, Bowen Engineering of Cape Girardeau, to do some preliminary designs for the route, which eventually will connect Highway 74 to William Street near downtown. Much of the design work had been done, but it was not completed.

Now, the university, which has a vested interest in the future street since it will be the main entrance to the proposed River Campus.

Jacobs Engineering Group, the same firm that has been involved with the entire River Campus project, has been hired by the university to handle the Fountain Street design. That should expedite the process of coming up with a street design that complements the River Campus.

The future road is considered by city officials and downtown business owners as a huge piece of the city's future since the opening of the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, scheduled for this fall, will change the traffic flow on the east side of the city. The corridor will become an exit just 500 feet from the end of the bridge, the first available turnoff for motorists traveling from Illinois.

Dunlap and university facilities management director Al Stoverink both said that the university and the downtown group will coordinate efforts so the entire corridor looks the same - to make sure trees, lights and sidewalks all match.

Both groups have been working with the city as well.

City manager Michael Miller said the city council will have to approve the plans.

The city has committed $250,000 to the project, and the university will pay for anything above that. About $1.5 million in federal grant money has been secured by the city for stormwater, sewer and other related improvements near the River Campus.

City council members have emphasized that Fountain Street should be given a priority, and they said they want it completed by the time the bridge is finished.