The Marthasville Board of Aldermen voted March 19 to move forward with sidewalk improvements on Depot Street as a part of the city’s larger efforts to update their streets. 

“If you look at the amount of cars that travel Depot Street downtown … it’s an entrance to town, people frequenting businesses there, (and) that’s where we get a lot of our sales tax revenue,” said Mayor David Lange. 

Lange said they were encountering a drainage issue underneath the sidewalks that was damaging Depot Street, and that it did not make any sense to repair the street before solving the issue with the sidewalks. 

“We decided we didn’t want to pave down Depot Street until we redid some of the sidewalks along Depot Street,” he said. “Part of the sidewalks are extremely old.”

Since Depot Street is one of the oldest in Marthasville, and hosts many of the city’s businesses, the board discussed the potential for issues with right of way. 

Lange said the sidewalk does not run straight along the street and several of the homes and businesses on the thoroughfare are actually constructed on city right of way. 

He clarified he did not plan on forcing buildings to be moved or changed and thought a better course of action would be to move the sidewalk further out into the street to straighten it. 

Alderman Nick Lange also pointed out that parts of the sidewalk on the east side of the street had been recently redone, and included a curb and gutter along with ADA compliant pads. 

“If you’re thinking about replacing sidewalk or making improvements, that sidewalk should be this wide with curb and gutter, and it should look nice from one end of Depot all the way to the other,” said Nick Lange. 

David Lange countered that he did not feel curb and gutter were necessary for the length of the street since there is no storm drainage on Depot Street to begin with. 

“There is no storm water system down there, you can put one in, but it’s hard to go all the way along Depot Street there,” said David Lange. 

The board also noted that aside from the sidewalk on the north side of the street there is also a curb on parts of the south side of the street, although it has been covered by debris and gravel. 

Aldermen Leo Meyer and Gary Dixon expressed concern that the city was moving forward with another project before completing the street projects they already have underway, like the extension of Fifth Street. 

David Lange clarified Fifth Street was their next priority regardless and that Cochran Engineering, the firm hired by the city to design the project, was almost finished with the design and then they would be able to go out for bid. 

Nick Lange estimated with city crews helping to tear out the sidewalks before a contractor got to work on installing new sidewalks the project would be a marginal expense compared to the city’s fund for capital improvements. 

In the end, the board voted to realign and repave the sidewalk on the western half of depot between One Street and Two Street, the eastern half of the block between Two Street and Three Street along with the entirety of the blocks between Three Street and Five Street and extending onto the first block of Five Street. 

They also voted to repair and extend the existing curb on the south side of the street from Four Street to One Street. 

The measure was approved unanimously and the city will move forward with preliminary work that can be handled by city crews before they go out for bids and hire a contractor.