The city of Warrenton is being forced to take two steps back in its effort to build a sidewalk along a portion of Veterans Memorial Parkway, after the Missouri Department of Transportation rejected …
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The city of Warrenton is being forced to take two steps back in its effort to build a sidewalk along a portion of Veterans Memorial Parkway, after the Missouri Department of Transportation rejected plans to proceed with a project contractor.
Warrenton wants to build a sidewalk along Veterans Memorial Parkway from the area of Market Street all the way to the west end of the Shoppes at Warrenton mall, at the entrance to Rural King. The project would be jointly funded by Warrenton and by MoDOT’s Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP).
Last September, the city awarded a nearly $930,000 construction contract to S&A Equipment and Builders, the only contractor to bid on the project. But because this is a joint project with MoDOT, every step of the process has to go back to MoDOT officials for review and approval.
In January, Warrenton Director of Operations Jon Struckhoff announced that MoDOT had rejected the construction contract due to a procedural error in the bidding process.
“Apparently we had some language wrong in the bid documents, so they rejected our bid. So we have to re-bid the project,” Struckhoff explained.
But that rejection might come with a silver lining, Struckhoff said. Warrenton has a chance to apply for additional grant funding to cover more of the cost of the project.
MoDOT’s initial TAP grant was for $314,000, about one-third of the total project cost. But state officials have now told the city that more funding is still available, and that Warrenton should submit another grant application, Struckhoff said. The new grant would be in addition to what Warrenton is already receiving.
“So it’s going to save us money in the long run, if we get the (additional) TAP grant,” Struckhoff noted.
The Warrenton Board of Aldermen voted unanimously on Jan. 17 to submit an additional grant application to the MoDOT Transportation Alternatives Program.
TAP is a state program that supports the creation of routes for non-automobile traffic along state highways. The program has previously provided funding for a new sidewalk along North Highway 47, along with sidewalks in other area towns.
For the Veterans Memorial Parkway sidewalk, city officials say the walking route will complete a safe connection for pedestrians to travel anywhere from downtown Warrenton all the way to the mall.
Because construction of the sidewalk would also affect the flow of stormwater along the route, part of the project cost also includes building new stormwater drainage features.
