After returning a similar grant award when the downtown Crossville improvement plan was abandoned several years ago, the Crossville city council approved submitting a grant application that could help pay for $1.5 million in downtown sidewalk improvements during a special called meeting.
Downtown Crossville sidewalks
City council has talked about improving downtown sidewalks for some 15 years, originally as part of the multi-million dollar downtown project, but little has been accomplished towards it during that time. The cost has been a factor in the decision not to proceed. The currently proposed grant will pay for 80 percent of the approved work.
The grant, called the Transportation Alternative Program, is a program of the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). The deadline to apply is October 3 this fall but awards will not be announced until around this time next year. If the city is successful, the bids are expected to be put out in November of 2019 and the construction phase runs from March to November 2020. Previously it was announced that TDOT planned to pave Main Street through Downtown sometime during 2020.
Crossville city manager Greg Wood, left, tells council about
the details of the proposed TDOT TAP grant project.
L-R: Wood, council members J.H. Graham, Danny Wyatt,
Mayor James Mayberry and Scot Shanks.
Because the project is essentially identical to the one that the city previously planned most of the design and right-of-way work is already completed but TDOT will still have to review the project once again. The project starts at the Lantana Road intersection of Main Street and continues to the north side of Neecham Street. The main work will include sidewalks, ADA compliant intersections, and additional improvements. The city will pay from some of the work that the grant won't cover from tax funds.
The total estimated cost of the project is just over $1.5 million and the city's match of 20 percent is around $316,000. In addition, the cost of lighting materials that city crews will install is $295,000.
Evan Sanders of grant consultant Community Development Partners told the council that because the design work is mostly complete that TDOT should look on that favorably and the city has an excellent chance of getting the project funded.
During the discussion before the vote, city manager Greg Wood asked council for permission to pursue a possible partner to install fiber optic cable along Main Street in the conduit the city will be installing for streetlight power and traffic light controls. Wood said that that would protect the lines from ice storms and strong winds.
In addition, the city will be meeting with a company that wants to make a proposal concerning saving enough energy costs to help pay for the new street lighting the city is looking at installing.
The motion to approve the submission of the application and necessary budget amendment was made by councilman J. H. Graham and seconded by Councilman Scot Shanks. An additional $43,000 was added to the grant request to fund pedestrian signals that TDOT requires according to Mr. Sanders.
Councilwoman Pam Harris could not attend the meeting but the remaining four council members voted in favor of the motion and the application will be submitted.
An additional 7 items on the agenda were handled in a single vote. Additional readings of previously approved ordinance readings. One action was to apply for funds to help defray costs of replacing the K-9 police dog Cain.
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