City to seek grants to help pay for Maryland Avenue upgrades
By Jason Arndt
Editor
The Burlington Common Council on Tuesday endorsed a resolution to support adding bike and pedestrian amenities as part of the Maryland Avenue reconstruction project slated for 2021.
Director of Public Works Peter Riggs, who explained the project in detail, said the city could see savings of at least 50 percent from the estimated $1.8 million price tag through a state Department of Transportation grant.
The DOT grant, which does not cover water main replacement expenses, will come from the state’s Local Road Improvement discretionary funds program.
“We also applied for some grant funding for this project, and as one of the requirements of that grant funding, anytime you apply for Local Road Improvement Discretionary Funds through WisDOT, if you have bike and pedestrian trails, you need to pass a resolution through each governmental body,” he said.
The Maryland Avenue reconstruction plan, according to Riggs, was selected by Racine County as the project for this round of funding.
The grant, however, is just the first step in the city’s lengthy plan to reconstruct Maryland Avenue from Milwaukee Avenue to Congress Street.
“There is going to be a little bit of water main work, there is going to be a sidewalk along the southern portion of Maryland Avenue as it comes down to Congress Street,” he said.
“There will be on-street paved biking lanes, there will be curb/gutter and storm sewer improvements. The bike and pedestrian facilities will connect Riverside Park and the bike trail facilities there up to Milwaukee Avenue.”
The city could receive a higher level of assistance through a Multimodal Local Supplement grant.
“The MLS program provides a higher level of funding but is significantly more competitive,” Riggs wrote in a Common Council memo. “WisDOT staff has indicated that MLS awards should be announced prior to LRIP MSID awards. This would allow a community to select the better of two funding options if they applied for both programs.”
City officials will spend 2020 assembling a plan design before beginning construction the following year.
To get the full report from the Jan. 21 Common Council meeting see the Jan. 23 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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