2008 Woodie Awards
Council approves campus-Square walkway project
Jessie Gasch
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: News
CORRECTION TUESDAY, NOV. 13, 2007, 2:43 P.M.
THIS STORY HAS BEEN CORRECTED TO REFLECT A MISATTRIBUTION OF A QUOTATION.
Kirksville is forging a new link between the University and downtown.
At the City Council meeting Tuesday, councilmembers voted unanimously to contract with Mihalevich Concrete Construction Inc., which will replace the ordinary sidewalks along Franklin Street with brick-accented walks, new decorative street lighting, grassed terraces and wayfinding signage.
The project, which will cost more than $300,000, is funded in part by a grant from the state Department of Transportation. The city also will chip in, using downtown tax increment financing revenues and the capital improvement sales tax reauthorized by voters in April, city manager Mari Macomber said.
In the late 1990s, Truman, A.T. Still University of Health Sciences and the city formed a partnership to improve the downtown, and the sidewalk project will help fulfill that.
"Both campuses see the downtown as an amenity," Macomber said. "If it were appealing, that would help them to attract and maintain students and faculty."
Macomber said Mihalevich also will add a bike lane along one side of Franklin Street, from Normal Street to Jefferson Street, which will eliminate nine permanent parking spaces. The parking restriction concerned Sparks Cleaners, Macomber said, but now the city has planned for a loading zone to replace one of those full-time parking spots.
Public Works Director John Buckwalter said the construction process will take 120 days total, but those days will not be consecutive. Workers cannot lay concrete in the winter unless the concrete can be protected from the weather, and sidewalks are difficult to protect, Buckwalter said.
"We will do very little work in January and February because it'll just be too cold," he said.
Before the project can begin, the city must get approval from MoDOT because of its contribution. Buckwalter said the city will hammer out the detailed construction schedule with Mihalevich after receiving MoDOT's approval, which he expects will be Dec. 1 at the earliest.
THIS STORY HAS BEEN CORRECTED TO REFLECT A MISATTRIBUTION OF A QUOTATION.
Kirksville is forging a new link between the University and downtown.
At the City Council meeting Tuesday, councilmembers voted unanimously to contract with Mihalevich Concrete Construction Inc., which will replace the ordinary sidewalks along Franklin Street with brick-accented walks, new decorative street lighting, grassed terraces and wayfinding signage.
The project, which will cost more than $300,000, is funded in part by a grant from the state Department of Transportation. The city also will chip in, using downtown tax increment financing revenues and the capital improvement sales tax reauthorized by voters in April, city manager Mari Macomber said.
In the late 1990s, Truman, A.T. Still University of Health Sciences and the city formed a partnership to improve the downtown, and the sidewalk project will help fulfill that.
"Both campuses see the downtown as an amenity," Macomber said. "If it were appealing, that would help them to attract and maintain students and faculty."
Macomber said Mihalevich also will add a bike lane along one side of Franklin Street, from Normal Street to Jefferson Street, which will eliminate nine permanent parking spaces. The parking restriction concerned Sparks Cleaners, Macomber said, but now the city has planned for a loading zone to replace one of those full-time parking spots.
Public Works Director John Buckwalter said the construction process will take 120 days total, but those days will not be consecutive. Workers cannot lay concrete in the winter unless the concrete can be protected from the weather, and sidewalks are difficult to protect, Buckwalter said.
"We will do very little work in January and February because it'll just be too cold," he said.
Before the project can begin, the city must get approval from MoDOT because of its contribution. Buckwalter said the city will hammer out the detailed construction schedule with Mihalevich after receiving MoDOT's approval, which he expects will be Dec. 1 at the earliest.
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