Cole County and Jefferson City public works officials are meeting to go over goals for the next five years after voters approved renewing their respective half-cent sales taxes for capital improvements last year.
The Cole County Commission discussed a list of proposed joint city/county projects Tuesday.
Of the $11 million designated for these projects, $1.2 million could be used to reduce traffic congestion at the Clark Avenue intersection, and another $1.2 million would go to street overlays and upgrades. There's $4.6 million to be split between Dunklin Street corridor improvements to bridges, signals and sidewalks, with the rest going for improvements on East High Street between Cherry Street and Vetter Lane. The remaining $4 million would be used for economic and commercial development projects.
Of this money, $400,000 is being spent on improvements to Capitol Avenue such as bike lanes, passing lanes and two-lane vehicle traffic, all falling in the same street layout.
Also, $500,000 was spent for improvements to Myrtle Avenue, which include a pedestrian underpass, in connection with building Helias High School's Crusader Athletic Complex.
The project county commissioners are most eager to see done is improvements to East High Street. Jefferson City Engineer David Bange said they would look to do work on sidewalks at East Elementary School and the crosswalk near the school as well as work on retaining walls and stormwater inlets in the area. He said they would allocate $1.7 million and hopefully be ready to complete the work next year.
Of the $4 million in economic development projects, $2 million would go to build the MSP Parkway on 4.4 acres of 32 acres the city was granted by the state for redevelopment at the old Missouri State Penitentiary. The parkway will go from the circle end of Lafayette Street, east and south through the property, eventually connecting with East Capitol Avenue. Another roundabout will be located east of Chestnut Street. Work is not anticipated to begin until 2020, and the hope is a developer for the property will be in place by then.
There is also $1.5 million to go for work on a road to the new Jefferson City public high school. The road potentially would go from the roundabout at Mission Drive to Creek Trail Drive. That work is not anticipated to start until 2019. Jefferson City Public Works Director Matt Morasch said he anticipates they would handle this project like they did with the Myrtle Avenue project with Helias, where the school was responsible for the project.