A Poplar Bluff, Mo., family stood aside Thursday for progress as a new highway cut through the farmland they have managed for more than half a century.
The site of yesterday's ground breaking ceremony to mark the extension of Shelby Road is the same place Kelly and Judy Boyers celebrated their son Derek's first birthday.
It is where family weddings were toasted, summer picnics held for grandchildren and Halloween parties hosted for great-grandchildren.
"This road will open up the whole west end of Poplar Bluff," Boyers said after the ceremony, later joined by Judy and their daughter, Rhonda, on a hillside stripped bare of trees and grass to reveal the path of a four-lane highway. "I see that it will help future generations financially."
The 2.5 miles section of Shelby Road will be built over the next 18 months, extending the corridor from Kanell Boulevard to Highway 53.
The Poplar Bluff City Council voted in August to award the approximately $10.4 million project to Robertson Contractors. The Poplar Bluff company was the low bidder for the project, which also will include a walking trail and signal light at Roxie Road.
Boyers helped select the site for the ground breaking, city manager Mark Massingham told a large group of city officials, residents and former employees who gathered for the event.
"I realize they were compensated for it, but they gave up a lot here," he said. "I think they are to be commended for doing that for the city, the county and the whole community."
Boyers, 79, has lived on sections of the land that will become part of Shelby Road since the age of 14. His family has raised livestock and planted row crops during that time, with both his son and daughter building their own homes nearby.
"The kids and grandkids, and now we're getting into great-grandkids, they had their free run of this," Boyers said. "Although we still have property left, it's going to take some getting used to. ... I knew it was a unique place and I've been over it all my life."
The city council, with the leadership of Massingham, and the help of Dominic Thompson of Smith and Company, negotiated in good faith, Boyers said of the factors that influenced his decision.
"I tried not to ask for anything that was ridiculous, unnecessary or unreasonable," Boyers said. "Without a doubt, this road will increase the value of the place, but money's not everything."
Poplar Bluff is blessed to be able to start this project, said Mayor Ed DeGaris.
"It just seems inadequate to say 'thank you.' In my opinion, the city of Poplar Bluff will be forever indebted to the Boyers family, for their sacrifice in providing this land for this road," he said.
The original vision of Poplar Bluff businessman Paul Duckett for Shelby Road, the efforts of former city manager Doug Bagby and the work of many others have also brought the project to fruition, DeGaris said.
Bob MacDonald, president of Smith and Company engineering, and Colby Robertson, president of Robertson Contractors, both agreed.
"This is actually the link that was so important to the Eight Points development," MacDonald added. "It's great to be a part of this project."
Despite a void of several years, the city is back on track, said Duckett.
"We can't change the past, but we can certainly change the future," he said. "I see Poplar Bluff growing."
Bond debt issued under the Poplar Bluff Transportation Development District will pay for this extension, as well as the original Shelby Road portion from Oak Grove Road to Kanell Boulevard and other projects.
Property was purchased from approximately 10 owners to complete the extension of Shelby Road.
Payments for the purchase of property and construction will be made with money collected from a 1-cent sales tax levied at more than 150 businesses on Oak Grove Road, Kanell Boulevard and Westwood Boulevard. Payments are expected to continue through 2039 and 2046 on the separate bond issuances.
Shelby Road is the final project for phase 1 of the PBRTDD projects.