YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
Springfield City Council heard a preview of upcoming transportation projects and a review of ongoing and completed ones at an annual update during its recent luncheon session.
Representatives of Greene County and the Missouri Department of Transportation joined city Public Works officials for the Sept. 3 info session, held at the city’s Transportation Management Center on Chestnut Expressway.
Transportation Engineer Brett Foster said several projects are either underway or just getting ready to start.
In the section extending from Sunshine Street to Grand Street and passing to the rear of Parkview High School, the Grant Avenue Parkway project is mostly complete, including the addition of trees and traffic calming measures, according to Principal Engineer Paula Brookshire.
“Our contractor has moved now to the north of Grand, and they are working on removals, putting the electric underground and other utilities in place on the projects as well as starting to add the trail and sidewalk there,” she said.
She added that the city is still in the process of acquiring right of way for some sections and the contractor is working in the other areas. The project should be completed next year, she said.
For the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge project, which spans 13 tracks of the BNSF Railway, Brookshire said contracts are being finalized now and the city is preparing to move into construction.
“Keep in mind that the first six months of the project won’t look like traditional construction,” she said. “The contractor will be ordering materials and putting together plans for how the work will happen working with BNSF.”
After about six months, people will be able to see work underway on the project, she said.
City officials also outlined some improvements being made to improve accessibility, including National Avenue between Kearney Street and Sunset Street, Battlefield Road between Golden Avenue and Scenic Avenue and between Kansas Expressway and National, and Sunshine between Kansas and Glenstone Avenue. The widening of Galloway Street is underway, as are improvements to the National and Division Street intersection.
Throughout the city, traffic signal system improvements are in the works, including the installation of audible pedestrian push-button systems and rectangular rapid flashing beacons at crosswalks, which increase visibility of pedestrians. Traffic signal controllers, radar vehicle detection systems and network communication upgrades are among other improvements this season, according to Principal Engineer Brian Doubrava.
Doubrava also outlined the 2024 federal resurfacing project, which is similar to one completed two years ago on National, Sunshine and Battlefield. The work is funded through the Surface Transportation Block Grant program, for which MoDOT distributes federal transportation funds.
“This expands that into a lot of the areas that were not encompassed with that, and that is going through the contract signing right now,” Doubrava said.
The work will go through summer 2025, he added.
The resurfacing project includes the following:
Upcoming city projects include federally funded pedestrian and bike projects, to wit, a sidewalk on Mount Vernon from Lulwood Avenue to Westgate Avenue; improvements to the South Creek Trail along Sunset from Fremont Avenue to Glenstone; a Jordan Creek Trail connection to Division in Smith Park; and another Jordan Creek Trail connection from Jordan Valley Park to Chestnut on Sherman Street.
Foster said the projects leverage federal funds with carbon reduction tax grants and transportation alternative program grants.
“We’ve been very competitive and done really well in that,” he said.
He highlighted the project located on Mount Vernon Street.
“We have a residential community there and no place for kids to walk to school,” he said.
The Sunset project will upgrade the sidewalk to a 10-foot multiuse side path while also filling in some gaps in the system.
“We’re removing some old infrastructure and replacing it with much better infrastructure,” he said.
The Smith Park project adds a trail through the park, where many people already cut through to get to Division Street.
“That’s a sidewalk connection that makes it a lot more walkable for the neighborhood people to access the park,” Foster said.
The Sherman Street project, which is by the Springfield Cardinals ballpark at Hammons Field, is an exciting one, he said.
“Sherman Street between the Jordan Valley Park and Chestnut, the road goes underneath Chestnut and the trail goes under Chestnut, but when you’re at the stadium and you look down there, that doesn’t look very attractive to walk through,” he said. “We’re going to upgrade that to more of a streetscape feel and nice quality of place features through there.”
Federal funding in the amount of $750,000 also will pay for the design of two pedestrian/bike projects: the Fassnight Trail along Bennett Street from Glenstone to Enterprise Avenue and a project along Grand from National to Kansas Expressway.
Other projects on the horizon are the LeCompte Road widening near the Springfield Underground, a Walnut Street bridge replacement between Kansas Expressway and Nettleton Avenue, sidewalk and stormwater improvements, and signal replacements.
In June, the city was awarded a $25 million grant through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program for its UnGap the Map project. It’s a Department of Transportation-administered program.
“This is 3 miles of trail throughout the city to collectively make our major trails continuous,” Doubrava said. “Right now, I think the longest trail system that we have continuous in the city is 6 miles, and with these 3 miles of gaps we will increase that to 25 miles of continuous trails.”
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