City to request grant for North Main
PHIL COBB/DAILY FORUM
The City of Maryville will request a $225,000 Community Development Block Grant through the Missouri Department of Economic Development to improve North Main Street, which is also Business Hwy. 71 from 12th Street to the Hwy. 71 Bypass. The segment of North Main from Halsey Street to First Street was resurfaced in 2006.
The City of Maryville is expected to file application soon for a state Community Development Block Grant to assist in defraying the cost of necessary improvements to North Main Street from 12th Street to the U.S. Highway 71 Bypass.
Maryville City Manager Greg McDanel said this week the anticipated cost of the overall project is estimated at $225,000.
The usual CDBG cost-sharing is determined on an 80-20, state-local match basis, McDanel said.
That would result in the city’s being required to provide a $36,000 contribution from its 2016 street improvement budget to fully fund the North Main work.
“This particular project is not in our 2015 overlay plans,” the city manager said, “but if we are not successful with our grant application, it will certainly be included in the work budgeted for 2016.
The Missouri Department of Economic Development traditionally provides CDBG grants to communities to improve local facilities, for health and safety concerns,” McDanel said. “They also look at the condition of a location’s general infrastructure.”
CDBG grant work does not typically include road construction projects, but the complexity of the work under consideration for North Main could be a contributing factor.
The Northwest Missouri Regional Council of Governments staff is assisting the city staff in preparing the grant application, which is due April 1.
“Our North Main work will require shoulder rehabilitation work as well as other landscaping elements,” McDanel said. “We will be looking at street trees, general screening of other properties, and other improvements in addition to the actual improvement of the street and shoulders.
The city assumed responsibilities for Main Street, which is also Business Hwy. 71 through the city after the Highway 71 bypass was completed in 1993.
McDanel is guardedly optimistic about the grant-request approval possibilities.
“We have a good story to tell,” he said.
“That stretch of Main Street from 12th to the Bypass is the main entrance to our city from the north. It provides the first impression to our community.”
The city, however, has not kept up with maintaining the route.
“We simply do not have a designated funding source for that section of roadway since we acquired it from the Missouri Department of Transportation,” McDanel said.
The city manager also said work is progressing on the study to determine options for improving South Main Street.
“It is taking a little longer than we had anticipated, but it is moving forward, even if more slowly than we expected,” he said.
