Officials explore safety options for US 67 north of Bonne Terre

Emerson, Engler meets with county, city officials

By TERESA RESSEL
Daily Journal Staff Writer

BONNE TERRE — Last week, county and city officials, State Sen. Kevin Engler and a representative of U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson’s office met with the Missouri Department of Transportation to discuss safety issues related to U.S. 67 north of Bonne Terre.

One of the issues was the crossover at Hedgeapple Lane just north of Bonne Terre. Sandy Ledbetter, who lives in Big River Hills, has started a petition to get the crossover closed and an outer road built.

Mark Shelton, MoDOT district engineer, said they are working together to explore options to see if they are able to close that crossover.

City Manager Larry Barton and Sen. Engler said someone will speak with the property owners between Northwood Drive and Hedgeapple Lane, about the possibility of building a road.

Barton believes it is a cheap project MoDOT could take on to further accomplish their goal of eliminating crossovers on the highway. Engler said hopefully the property owners will see the benefit of building a road through there.

There are roughly 150 homes off of Hedgeapple Lane. Barton said it might be a little inconvenient for residents who want to go north on U.S. 67 but he believes it would be worth it, as far as safety goes. He said it may cause the state to need another traffic light on Route K at Northwood Drive.

The officials also asked MoDOT to look at closing the Cash Lane crossover, which is north of Hedgeapple. Barton said a more immediate option to improve safety would be to put in turn lanes.

Officials also discussed the north Big River bridge on Berry Road that was closed last year, causing people to have to use the crossover at Cash Lane.

Barton said they didn’t seem interested in opening the north Big River bridge “until we join the coalition to work on the south bridge.” County and state officials have been asking the city to contribute $20,000 to improvements to the bridge on Raider Road just north of Desloge. So far, the city has declined.

Engler said MoDOT will do a cost estimate on the north bridge but it is not a high priority for MoDOT. Shelton said the county has said the first priority is fixing the south bridge.

Shelton said it was a good meeting and they recognized there was a lot of roadway needs in the northern area of St. Francois County. He said that they are getting together and talking about the issues means they are on the right track.

Shelton added he is pleased with the progress being made on the Old Orchard Road interchange on U.S 67 in Bonne Terre. He said with the dry weather, construction is certainly on schedule.

“I am looking forward to a ribbon-cutting on that project,” he said.

Construction began on the interchange in May. The $7.74 million Orchard Road project was awarded to Iron Mountain Trap Rock in February. The project should be complete in late summer 2009.

Teresa Ressel is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 179 or at tressel@dailyjournalonline.com.

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