How hard is it to build a sidewalk?
Expert-level hard, if you're the City of Osage Beach, you want to build it along Highway 42, and you're using government grants to get it done.
The City is more than four years in, on a project to build an .85-mile sidewalk along Highway 42 using federal TAP Grant money... and they haven't even broken ground. But a huge change to the project could result in it finally being started — and completed — in 2027.
The sidewalk was originally set to run along the east side of the highway, connecting the Prewitt's Point Shopping Center (which ends at Lowe's) to the City Park and then to School of the Osage High School.
This sidewalk at the Lake has been FOUR YEARS in the making…
And they haven't even BROKEN GROUND. 😳😳
So Osage Beach is doing something pretty drastic…
They're moving the ENTIRE sidewalk across Hwy 42.
Yep. The OTHER SIDE of the highway.
And now it might FINALLY get built in 2027.
Full story at LakeExpo.com
But the obstacles were legion. The topography of the area meant more construction cost. And some property owners along the path were reticent to work with the City on easements. "Not everybody was eager about the project," said Project Manager Colten Wright.
The City was determined to find a way. It had already paid engineers for a design; and more importantly, the federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant cost-share had already been applied for and approved. That grant would cover 75% of the project. Wright explained, "If you don’t carry through on a TAP project, the likelihood of you getting a TAP project again is very slim." So if the City decided to punt on the sidewalk, he said it would almost certainly affect its chances of getting federal funds to help build other sidewalks or other alternative transportation infrastructure in the future.
So after a frustrating several years, the City has decided to move the sidewalk to the other side of the road. Now the sidewalk has been designed to run along the west side of Highway 42.
It wasn't the original option, but Wright says it's still preferable to giving up. So rather than running alongside Peanick Park from Lowe's to Osage High School, the sidewalk will pass along Faithbridge Church, Osage Animal Hospital, and Flirt Strip Club, ending at Osage Middle School. The new route will make the sidewalk easier to construct, which Wright says will save the City money.
Eventually, he says, the City plans to use a crosswalk to connect the sidewalk to Peanick Park.
With the route change, Wright says the project is "moving along." But there's still one more federal hurdle: an archeological dig. At its Thursday, Oct. 15 meeting, the City approved spending $8,940 to pay for an archeological team to look for Indian artifacts.
Provided the project pathway clears that historical hurdle, Wright says he expects it'll move forward quickly. "We are hoping to award the contract in spring, so completion date will be determined kind of after that," he said. "2027 is the year."
