Adrian's Island grant rejected

Fails to meet federal rules

Jefferson City's $400,000 grant application for the $2.99 million development of Adrian's Island received an unexpected and negative response Tuesday afternoon, just hours after community leaders unveiled a trio of announcements about the riverfront project.

Travis Koestner, deputy district engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), said the department determined the city's application was ineligible for the Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) grant. Koestner said the Adrian's Island application did not meet rules established April 14, 2014, by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

In Sunday's News Tribune, it was announced the Adrian's Island project, known as the Veterans Walk to Riverfront Park, had received approval from the Union Pacific Railroad to build an 828.6-foot bridge from the juncture of the Senate parking garage and the Veterans Memorial behind the Capitol to the one-mile long, 30-acre peninsula; local philanthropist B.J. DeLong had committed $1 million to the project; and the city would apply for a $400,000 TAP grant to help fund the project.

But Koestner said the Adrian's Island proposal did not sync with minimum standards established by FHWA.

The grant had never been a lock. The Jefferson City project would have competed with others submitted from throughout the eight-county MoDOT Central District. It had been one of several applications in a beauty contest of grants judged by planning commissions from Columbia, Camdenton, Ashland and St. James, as well as Jefferson City.

First envisioned in 1912, plans for development of the Missouri riverfront below the Capitol, the Adrian's Island bridge has been proposed in a variety of fashions for decades. The current iteration of the span would rise 25.6 feet above the six-track Union Pacific yards below at its highest point, creator Bob Gilbert, P.E., of Bartlett & West, said in last weekend's announcement.

David Bange, a city engineer closely identified with the Adrian's Island project, said Tuesday he could not name other Missouri or federal grants for which the city might apply. If the TAP grant had been submitted, the city would have known of its fate in January, Bange said. The TAP grant was pivotal to the city establishing a green light status for the Adrian's Island project, Bange said, legitimizing a final private fundraising campaign.

Previous coverage:

Adrian's Island project progressing, Oct. 9, 2016

Adrian's Island riverfront project moving forward, July 24, 2016

Officials don't see flooding at Adrian's Island as development killer, Jan. 24, 2016

Latest plan buoys Adrian's Island, Dec. 27, 2015

Adrian's Island planning moves forward, Dec. 6, 2015

Are further funds needed if riverfront project moves forward?, Aug. 23, 2015

Benefactor's interest in riverfront access pushes idea back to forefront, Aug. 9, 2015

Chamber taking lead on southern riverfront access, July 26, 2015

Talk resurfaces about south riverwalk, July 19, 2015