Cookeville Applying For Grant To Better Plan Paving Needs

Cookeville will apply for a T-DOT Community Transportation Planning Grant to better plan the city’s street paving needs.

Community Development Director Jon Ward said the city could receive up to $200,000. He said the grant will allow the city to see which roads need work done the most, and in what order that work should happen.

“This would be an analysis of our existing street conditions,” Ward said. “The plan would make recommendations on a prioritization schedule for what should be paved when. Also, for any of the stop-gap measures such as the micro-resurfacing.”

Grant submittals are due Friday. Ward said roads that need adjustments and touch-ups will also be included in the plan. The grants require a 10 percent match from the city and could include sidewalks.

“We would have a good idea of where we could get the most bang for our buck, where our best investment would be made in resurfacing city streets,” Ward said.

He said the process will be done in cooperation with the Water and Sewer Department to ensure roads remain largely untouched through the prime of their life spans.

“You’ll see some streets that, to the public, look like they’re in horrible condition,” Mills said. “South Jefferson is a prime example. We’ve held off on that although that’s a TDOT paving, we’ve held off on that until we can get the water and sewer repairs and improvements done because we don’t want to resurface and then go dig the street back up.”

Ward said Shelbyville has this done recently, and he spoke with the firm that helped them make their plan. He said the firm told him that a plan for Cookeville would definitely fall within the grant funding limit. City Manager James Mills said Cookeville has not had this done in 25 years.

“It’s basically an inventory of the condition of the streets which helps us rank them,” Mills said.

Council members brought up this kind of plan during the spring budget discussions.