Last night local residents gathered at a public meeting to give input about a new roundabout project at 17th and Albany. The project is mainly being done with federal funding but also required a match of $160,000. The match, with the exception of $15,000, was paid for in 2008 and 2009.
Rob McNevin, President of the Beech Grove Redevelopment Commission, says the project has been going on since 2008."The project did not go forward for the longest time because there wasn't enough funding for the match so it sat there," McNevin says.McNevin says the money has been found and the purpose of the public meeting was to gather opinions on the project.He says there were some safety concerns with the new roundabout.
The room was packed last night at the crowd expressed their concerns with the project. One of the safety concerns was the school children walking home. The children now are walking across 4 and in some spots 5 lanes of traffic. After the roundabout is finished, they will be only walking over 2 lanes of traffic and they have a standing area in between the two which means they have to only worry about 1 lane of traffic at a time.
Another area of concern was the cost. The cost for the city was $160,000 total. This money has already been paid and if we were to deny this project to move forward we have nothing to show for that money. Also, if we were to deny the grant money, we might lose future grants for other projects. Which means the city would have to pay for the full amount instead of just a match.
Construction is expected to begin in June and will last about 90 days with 45 of those days requiring the intersection to be completely closed to traffic.
If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment and we will do our best to get you that info from a person directly involved.
1 comment:
. Here is the official release from the Mayor's office.
In 2008, the previous administration applied for a federal CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality) grant administered by the MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization). The City was awarded the grant later that year. From 2008-2010, the City paid for design, engineering, land acquisition services, and one parcel of land for right-of-way. A second parcel was accepted in 2010, but it was paid by the RDC in February of this year. Unfortunately, that money cannot be restored – it is spent.
However, the City didn’t go into debt for those fees, and all construction and inspection costs ($900,000) are paid for by the grant received in 2008.
The grant itself is applicable only to this project – this specific design was submitted and approved for funding. Unfortunately, this money cannot be used for sewer repairs, street reconstruction, or anything else. If Beech Grove does not use it for this project, Beech Grove loses the money, as does the entire MPO (Marion and all surrounding counties). To turn away from the project at this point, Beech Grove could put future funding at risk for priority, important projects like Main Street redevelopment.
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