61/Industrial River Intersection Near Top Of Seven-County Priority List

Ste. Genevieve County’s top priority highway project may well be funded for 2021.

Adding a turn lane at the intersection of Industrial Road and Highway 61 finished third in voting last week at a meeting of the Southeast Missouri Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC).

Members voted on 21 projects, the top three priorities for each of the seven counties represented.

Ste. Genevieve’s top project finished behind Iron and Madison counties’ top priorities. Iron County’s is a route realignment of Highway 32 between Highway 49 and Highway 495. Madison County’s is adding shoulders to Highway 72 from Route D to Highway 21.

County resident and 2018 state representative candidate Bill Kraemer had met with District 116 Representative Dale Wright and Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) officials in Jefferson City earlier this year about the Highway 61/Industrial River Road intersection.

The Ste. Genevieve County Commission also endorsed and forwarded a letter from Kraemer to MoDOT. The reply at that time said that a “no passing” zone will be expanded, the radius of the intersection would be widened and the northbound shoulder would be regraded.

The priority list is not etched in stone. Rather than go directly to MoDOT as the process once did, the priority list will now be voted on by all four regional planning commissions in southeast Missouri. Those tabulations will then go to MoDOT.

“They’ll go through this same thing, and they’ll readjust them the way they want to, and send them to Jeff City,” Ste. Genevieve County Presiding Commissioner Garry Nelson said after the meeting.

The county’s No. 2 priority, stoplights at Interstate 55 and Highway 32, finished well down the list at 18th of 21 projects. Cameras and weight sensors at the I-55 exit for Routes OO/DD north of Bloomsdale was 19th.

See complete story in the November 6 edition of the Herald.