Though originally planned to be done this summer, construction on the Stadium Boulevard and Jefferson Street intersection has been delayed nearly a year due to ongoing property negotiations.
The planned Jefferson City project looks to address traffic backing up onto U.S. 54 from the off-ramp at Jefferson Street and congestion on Stadium Boulevard.
At the Jefferson and Stadium intersection, the project includes putting in a dual-lane roundabout with a right-hand slip lane coming off the U.S. 54 exit ramp through Stadium to Christy Drive. The project also will widen Stadium back to the Trinity Lutheran Church driveway.
City officials needed to acquire right-of-way on three properties and temporary construction easements on three others. However, one property owner, the Trinity Lutheran Church at 803 Swifts Highway, has not been able to come to an agreement with the city, causing the timeline of the project to be pushed back.
"It really does set us back," said City Engineer David Bange.
In October, Bange had said the city was in the process of negotiating with all affected property owners and hoped to have all needed property by the end of December in order to bid the project in February and start construction in April. However, with Trinity Lutheran not agreeing to sell, the city had to pursue another option.
At the Dec. 8 City Council meeting, the council authorized pursuing the needed property through purchase or condemnation. The approved bill states the city "has offered more than the appraised value, but the offer has been rejected." It further states the market value of the easement needed is $61,000.
Bange said the city had appraised the property and had that appraisal reviewed before making an offer to Trinity Lutheran for the needed property. However, Trinity had a counter offer that was "out of range" for the city, Bange said.
"We just didn't feel at that point that we could offer more," Bange said.
Doug Young, chair of Trinity Lutheran's Board of Trustees, said there are two reasons the church could not come to terms with the city - price and the need for a contingency plan in case construction begins to cause real problems for its school on Stadium Boulevard.
"We have concerns about what the project will do to traffic," Young said. "That's kind of a big sticking point, and we've not come to any understanding on that point. The city seems to think it's not going to be a problem."
Young said the city has not been willing to commit to working with Trinity in case a problem arises during the project.
"They just say, "No, it should be better than it is now,'" Young said.
Young and Bange said they hope an agreement will be possible between the two entities with or without condemnation, though that process may be necessary to move the timeline forward from the city's perspective. However, Young said the church and the city are both working in good faith and amicably.
"We're all trying to resolve this," Young said. "Negotiations at this point have been amicable, and we understand the need for the project. We're just concerned what that does to our access."
Bange said pursuing the condemnation is about a three-month process in itself, making it impossible for the city to stick to its previous timeline of completing the project this year. The new plan, he said, would be to start construction in July, which gives crews only about five weeks before the start of the school year.
Because the intersection is highly trafficked by students of Trinity Lutheran School, Jefferson City High School and Helias Catholic High School, crews will do as much work as possible out of the road this summer and some in fall before halting construction. In summer 2017, Bange said, crews will begin construction on the actual roundabout after school lets out.
Fahim Khan, manager at the Phillips 66 station on Stadium Boulevard near Jefferson Street, said his biggest concern with the project is the duration.
"My first impression was it would hurt business," Khan said.
Khan said he has seen the plans and hopes business will improve overall after the project is complete, but it doesn't really matter. He said the city's attitude has been that the project will happen and city staff was not seeking the input of businesses.
"They're just wanting to do it," Khan said.
MFA Oil, which owns the BreakTime and the Jiffy Lube on Stadium Boulevard, did not return a call for comment.
Reader Callout:
Do you use the intersection at Stadium and Jefferson? What do you think of the plans for a roundabout instead of the existing stop light? Will it help or hurt traffic?
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