The city of Warrenton this month approved new projects that will include storm sewer construction, along with street and sidewalk improvements along two major roadways.

The Board of Aldermen voted unanimously June 2 to approve engineering contracts for storm sewer and sidewalk along Veterans Memorial Parkway, and storm sewers plus road widening on Highway MM/West Booneslick west of Highway U.

Public Works Director Guy Gevers said the sidewalk on Veterans Memorial Parkway will connect Market Street to the area of Rural King at the Shoppes at Warrenton Mall.

Aldermen approved engineering bids of almost $38,000 for the engineering along Veterans Memorial, and over $66,000 for the engineering along Highway MM. Those costs are only for engineering, and don’t include construction, Gevers said. Both costs are several thousand dollars less than what the city had budgeted, he added.

Both contracts went to BFA Engineering, which has previously worked on Warrenton’s downtown sidewalks and contributed to the Warrenton Aquatic Center, Gevers said.

City Administrator Terri Thorn said stormwater improvements are a major focus on both projects.

“The main goal of this project (on Highway MM) is to improve the stormwater by improving the ditches, placing stormwater piping along the roadway,” Thorn explained. “The widening is just the benefit of having an enclosed ditch that is now level with the roadway.”

She added that widening the road and replacing the ditches could also provide an opportunity to construct a sidewalk there. Stormwater improvements were similarly an opportunity to get sidewalks installed along Veterans Memorial Parkway, Thorn said.

Both projects will be done in phases, with engineering as the first phase, Thorn said. She said the total estimated cost of the Veterans Memorial Parkway project, including construction and engineering, is about $550,000. The total estimate for the Highway MM project is about $950,000.

The city of Warrenton had previously put a freeze on this sort of capital project spending. City officials were concerned that COVID-19’s effect on local businesses would dampen the city’s sales tax revenue. After getting more information about that impact, Thorn said the city decided to go forward.

“We proceeded with moving these projects to the engineering phase in hopes that they would be shovel-ready in the event that the federal government puts an infrastructure grant program in place in the future, and these two projects could be submitted,” Thorn said. She added that construction costs will still be included in the city’s budget, in case a grant is not initially available.

Thorn also provided an update on a major sidewalk project along North Highway 47. She said a contracted company is working with property owners to acquire rights of way for the sidewalk this year, with construction hoped to begin in spring 2021.