News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville City Council voted to submit a grant application for a sidewalk project in the area of North Willow Avenue and West 12th Street.
Planning Director James Mills said the project had to be updated after receiving the budget for the project.
“We didn’t have our budget numbers yet, and we got those this week,” Mills said. “It was $1.6 million, which exceeds what we’d get through the grant and would require the city to commit quite a bit more money in addition to the five percent which is what this grant calls for.”
The original proposal called for sidewalk to be installed along the east side of North Willow Avenue from West 12th Street to Jere Whitson Road. The plan would also install sidewalk along West 12th between North Willow and Virginia Avenue.
Mills said TDOT officials would allow the project to be completed in phases, with phase one installing sidewalk along West 12th and halfway between 12th and Jere Whitson along North Willow. Phase two would complete the North Willow sidewalk, continuing it through Jere Whitson.
“You can get up to 95 percent through state funds in this to a maximum of $950,000,” Mills said. “The budget for this project is $955,600. We’d be responsible for a five percent match, which is $47,780, so this resolution would commit us to the match.”
Mills said the city would also be responsible for adding additional sidewalk between Virginia Avenue and North Dixie Avenue along West 12th Street. State regulations limit projects through the program to a maximum of a quarter mile in length. The extra sidewalk between Virginia and North Dixie would cost the city approximately $14,000 and would be done by city workers.
