With plans for the proposed Lynn Lane multi-use path at a standstill, Starkville officials this week asked the state to keep more than $1.2 million in unspent federal grant money until the project is ready for construction.
The city would have needed to obtain all the necessary rights-of-way, and utility companies would have needed to relocate all their utilities along the proposed route, to meet the Mississippi Department of Transportation”s Sept. 30 deadline, City Engineer Edward Kemp said. The city also needed to have environmental and cultural assessments done by the cutoff date.
But with the deadline approaching, it became obvious the project wouldn”t be ready in time to receive the funding, Kemp said.
Mayor Parker Wiseman Wednesday wrote a letter to MDOT and asked the state to keep the roughly $1.2 million — the city never actually possessed the funds — until the project is “shovel ready.” The grant comes from the Federal Highway Administration, but is being administered by MDOT.
Wiseman also said the city in the future might ask for additional funding because the projected cost of the path has increased in the three years since the grant was approved. The roughly $1.2 million, coupled with more than $300,000 in matching funds from the city, would have connected Mississippi State University to McKee Park in 2005 or 2006, as was the path”s original intent, but nowadays the money wouldn”t go that far. Given increased construction costs, the roughly $1.5 million only would take the path from McKee Park to Howard Road, several blocks from MSU, engineering firm Neel-Schaffer estimated recently.
Even though the project is at a standstill, Wiseman asked MDOT to keep the Lynn Lane path in mind, possibly for 2010.
“If it is within MDOT”s authority, we would like the $1,262,372 to remain available for this project with the option of applying for additional future funding,” Wiseman said in his letter. “If the funds are rescinded, we would like to be highly considered when we reapply for enhancement funding with a shovel ready project for the full scope.”
Neel-Schaffer is designing the Lynn Lane path, but their services have been “put on hold” while the Starkville Board of Aldermen decides what to do about the project, Kemp said.
One option is to continue obtaining rights-of-way and taking care of all the other issues that couldn”t be resolved by the Sept. 30 deadline, Kemp said, so the city could move forward with the original plan to connect McKee Park to MSU.
Starkville In Motion member Ron Cossman, who was instrumental in writing the grant application, said he would like to see the original path plan come to fruition. If it did, the path would begin at McKee Park, then run east along Lynn Lane to South Montgomery Street. From there, the path would head north on South Montgomery Street before turning east on Locksley Way and ending at Blackjack Road, on the edge of the MSU campus.
“I”m very hopeful and optimistic that we will get a Lynn Lane project done,” Cossman said. “I”m really excited about the thought that we would do the entire project, which includes connecting the university to the neighborhoods and community parks.”
The Lynn Lane project has been marred by delays since it was first conceived by Starkville In Motion back in 2005.
The city initially thought it could provide its $300,000 match in the form of in-kind services, but was told by MDOT last winter it would have to provide cash. The project then went on the back burner until the Board of Aldermen this spring voted to contribute the city”s share from its recently approved $3 million bond issue.
Plans for the path also shortened this spring. While the original plan was to go from McKee Park to Mississippi State, the rising cost of materials caused city aldermen to approve a revised plan to end the path at the corner of South Montgomery Street and Howard Road.
Then Neel-Schaffer”s Kevin Stafford told aldermen in June the whole scope of the project would have to change due to the Sept. 30 funding deadline. The board subsequently approved a revised plan, which showed the path beginning at Sycamore Street, traveling south through McKee Park and circling the city”s Sportsplex. This plan, however, was vetoed by former Mayor Dan Camp.
Stafford and Kemp came before the new mayor and Board of Aldermen July 7, but city officials still haven”t decided what to do about the project.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 29 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 29 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
