For years, Jefferson City residents have requested a pedestrian walkway along Country Club Drive to Capital Mall, and city staff plan to finally make that happen.
City staff plans to pave a shoulder along Country Club Drive, from Missouri 179 to the splitter island at Capital Mall, and stripe it as a pedestrian walkway. The walkway would connect to the sidewalk along the splitter island.
Country Club Drive currently has gravel shoulders, and many residents have complained about the maintenance of the shoulders and the lack of pedestrian accommodations in the area, City Engineer David Bange said.
City staff already planned to overlay Country Club Drive this summer and saw it as an opportunity to "kill two birds with one stone," Bange said.
The road would keep its 10-foot-wide vehicular lanes. There would be a 6-foot-wide walking path separated from the vehicular lanes by a 2-foot-wide striped buffer area.
Ward 3 Councilman Ken Hussey and city staff have heard residents' request for this improvement for years.
"I think it's good to get the street overlayed because it's in desperate need, and I think this is an improvement for pedestrian access along there," Hussey said. "It's not a perfect solution but a step to improve it for sure."
Street parking along Country Club Drive would still be allowed. If parking along the road became an issue, residents could speak with city staff or the Jefferson City Transportation and Traffic Commission about eliminating street parking, Public Works Department Director Matt Morasch said.
The speed limit is 30 mph, and city staff plans to pave markings and install signage to warn drivers about pedestrian traffic.
"I think pedestrians and motorists alike will have to be aware, just like any other street where you share the road with cyclists and even in places where there's not sidewalks (but) people are still walking and running in the street," Hussey said. "We'll just have to encourage awareness on everybody's part."
The council will vote May 20 on whether to approve a $909,116 contract with Jefferson Asphalt Company to complete the city's 2019 street resurfacing project.
There would be a slight cost increase in the contract by adding the walkway, Jefferson City Operations Director Britt Smith said, but the city has some extra money left over in its sidewalk fund that could go toward that expense.
County courthouse improvements approved
In other business Thursday, the Public Works and Planning Committee approved the Cole County Commission's proposal to make sidewalk and landscaping changes in front of the Cole County Courthouse on East High Street.
When city staff replaced downtown curbs and sidewalks last year, Bange said, that project did not address sidewalks in front of the courthouse since city staff knew county officials wanted to pursue a larger project.
The county has proposed creating a larger paved area along East High Street where people can gather after leaving the courthouse. The proposal also rearranged the benches and moves them further from the street to create a plaza area. The trees currently in the tree wells at the street edge will go along the lawn behind the sidewalk to allow for better pedestrian traffic flow.
The exposed aggregate sidewalks will contain red diamond accents and brick border along the East High and Monroe streets sidewalks in front of the courthouse.
County officials hope to start work on the improvements this summer, with completion in the fall, Bange said.