Columbia City Council approves $2.1 million contract for Business Loop study
Marie Moyer
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A more than $2.1 million collaborative study between the Columbia City Council, The Loop CID and Great Rivers Engineering to revamp Business Loop 70 is on its way to the US Department of Transportation for approval.
This comes after the Columbia City Council approved several million-dollar infrastructure projects Monday.
The total study cannot exceed $2,623,500, with $500,000 coming from capital improvement program sales tax funds, with the rest being covered by federal funding.
A press release from The Loop says the council approved a $2.13 million contract with Great River Engineering on Monday. The city was initially approved for $2.13 million in federal grant money last year, but funds were frozen on March 10.
Previous reporting indicates that Business Loop 70 will be studied between Stadium Boulevard and Eastland Circle to find ways to improve safety for motorized and non-motorized users, improving accessible multi-modal operations, providing aesthetics along the corridor and improving economic vitality along the roadway.
Business Loop 70 is maintained by Missouri Department of Transportation.
Great River Engineering will survey the street, collect public input and create engineering plans. Problem areas that will be focused on is stormwater management, bike lanes and adding crosswalks and sidewalks.
“Most exits off of I-70, hit the business loop, and we really want to put our best foot forward there,” Carrie Gartner, of the Business Loop CID, said. “The second thing is, we want to make sure people on the street can get to lunch, or can walk over and get a cup of coffee or can cross the street safely.”
Gartner adds that when the Loop conducted a separate survey of residents, many residents voiced similar concerns.
“As an outside-of-downtown bar, I think a lot of other bars struggle with getting people to just like come in as it’s not a walkable bar, so you can’t be downtown and just go here and there,” Dive Bar front of house manager Jakely Mange said. “I think it’s a great idea, I was like, ‘the loop has been around for so long and the better it can get, why not?'”
Mange added having more accessible transportation options would make the loop more accommodating.
When asked about if adding more sidewalks will increase panhandling from unhoused individuals, Gartner argues that easy and safe walking outweighs potential issues.
“If we’re really looking at people who are homeless, the solution isn’t to remove sidewalks,” Gartner said. “We don’t want to hold back the street because we’re afraid of something happening, we want an attractive and welcoming and easy-to-travel street.”
Once approved by the US Department of Transportation, the Loop CID will host public forums throughout the year and invite residents to come forward with any comments.