Thursday, January 28, 2021
Progress 2021 • Maryville Forum
B3
SUBMITTED RENDERINGS
One of the aesthetic goals of the South Main Corridor Improvement Project is to move overhead power lines underground. RIGHT: What the Taco Bell area near the intersection of South Avenue and South Main will look like with power lines moved underground.
‘Let’s go’: South Main overhaul set to begin By GEOFFREY WOEHLK The Forum
MARYVILLE, Mo. — At a meeting in July of last year, City Council member Rachael Martin spoke for all the city officials in attendance after the council voted to formally approve a $10.5 million grant from the federal government for the South Main Corridor Improvement Project. “Let’s go,” she said excitedly. After nearly a decade of planning, and then with added delays and uncertainty from a global pandemic tacked on just before shovels were set to turn dirt, the massive infrastructure overhaul that will transform 1 ½ miles of South Main Street in Maryville is getting underway. When it’s complete, the stretch of South Main from the U.S. Highway 71 bypass to South Avenue will see numerous functional and aesthetic upgrades, including: • Replacement of the traffic signals at the South Avenue and State Route V intersection • New traffic light at a realigned north entrance to Walmart • Realigned access points to and from business along the corridor • Enclosed storm sewer system
SUBMITTED RENDERING
A rendering of the redesigned entrance to Maryville on South Main. The massive infrastructure overhaul will feature functional and aesthetic upgrades along a 1½-mile corridor from the U.S. Highway 71 bypass to South Avenue. • Moving overhead power lines underground • Decorative lighting • Landscaping • Wayfinding signage • 8-foot bicycle/pedestrian path on the west side and a 5-foot sidewalk on the east side
City Manager Greg McDanel told The Forum that construction will likely begin in March, starting with utility relocation. All told, the project — easily the largest and most ambitious infrastructure overhaul in the city’s history — could be completed within about 24 months or so. During construction, McDanel
said that all properties along the road will continue to be accessible, and South Main itself will remain open to two-way traffic. Work along the three-lane corridor will be done one lane at a time so it can continue to be used. Although there are certainly challenges left on the road ahead, the path to construction in 2021 — which started nearly a decade ago in 2012 — has already jumped over several hurdles. Perhaps the largest was securing the funding, most of which was obtained through a $10.5 million federal BUILD grant, awarded in 2018.
Real
Estate
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Pictured in Dec. 2018, then-Maryville Mayor Rachael Martin and City Manager Greg McDanel attended a ceremony in Washington, D.C., for federal BUILD Grant recipients shortly after being awarded the $10.5 million grant. The grant funding allowed the project’s timeline to shrink from about 10 years to around two. Without the federal help, McDanel said the project was going to be paid for by city taxpayers from the capital improvement sales tax, and would have had to be broken up into three phases across at least 10 years. Each would have cost about $4 million. But just a month and a half before applications were due for the highly competitive, nationwide
grant program, city staff and the Northwest Missouri Regional Council of Governments started work on an application for a federal BUILD grant — a U.S. Department of Transportation program that awards discretionary funds for capital improvements in cities and towns across Amer-
Developers
Bill and Bonnie Ingels 604 Peaceful Way Maryville, MO 64468 660-373-0367 billandbonnieingels@gmail.com
•26 individually
platted lots deeded traditionally. You own your lot and home.
Drive by 2814 Tranquility Court
• Unlimited custom
• NO common
• The Tranquility
elements that must be maintained and/or replaced by the Home Owners Association, eliminating hidden future costs. The city owns and is responsible for maintaining our streets.
home design with a minimum living area of 1,500 sq. ft.
• All 17 remaining lots are fully developed and available for immediate construction.
Court Property Owners Association is responsible for snow removal, all lawn care and landscape maintenance, exterior lighting and trash pickup. Current HOA dues are $11000 per month.
Call Bill or Bonnie at 660-373-0367 or 660-582-8104 for a Private Showing.
See MAIN, B6
