Side benefits: Jackson gets new sidewalks as part of sewer projects

Taking a walk around and through parts of Jackson is getting easier, thanks to efforts by the Missouri Department of Transportation and the city.

Several sidewalks in Jackson are under construction. In addition to MoDOT's project on East Jackson Boulevard, sidewalks are being replaced on other city streets.

City engineer Erica Bogenpohl said the sidewalks not on East Jackson Boulevard are being replaced as part of the water-system facility plan Jackson has been implementing since voters approved an $11.5 million bond in August 2015.

The plan has several projects in areas of the city including uptown's water-main replacements occurring on East Main and Adams streets this spring.

The sidewalks now under construction are another phase of this same plan, Bogenpohl said.

Thiele Concrete workers lay down concrete Wednesday for a sidewalk along Main Street in Jackson.Andrew J. Whitaker

The water-system facility plan included sidewalk repair but was not the main focus, Bogenpohl said.

"This was not a sidewalk project per se," Bogenpohl wrote in an email. "The new water line was installed via an open trench that required removal and replacement of any pavement along that trench."

This phase is scheduled to be finished in early May, Bogenpohl said in the email.

"West Main Street, North Russell Street, South Russell Street, West Adams Street, South Bast Street and West Park Street all received new sidewalks as part of this project," Bogenpohl wrote.

The uptown Jackson line replacement project will begin within a few weeks, Bogenpohl said, and that phase does not include sidewalk construction.

"The next big phase, all across the city, which is currently out to bid, includes minimal sidewalk work -- much less than this first phase," Bogenpohl wrote.

MoDOT's East Jackson Boulevard sidewalk project began March 6 at East Jackson Boulevard and Old Cape Road. This project eventually will replace sidewalks for three miles on both sides of East Jackson Boulevard from Old Cape Road to Oklahoma Street.

Brian Holt, resident engineer in Jackson's MoDOT office, said in an email work is moving along on East Jackson Boulevard's sidewalks.

"The contractor is making good progress. Work should be done by fall," he said in the email.

Holt told the Southeast Missourian in March anticipated completion of both sides' sidewalks is Sept. 1.

The Jackson City Park trail system is still waiting for word on grant status, Bogenpohl said. Eventually, the trail system will be expanded to join existing paths into a continuous system, and the city will determine the schedule as soon as funding is secured.

Bogenpohl applied for a grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in February, and the grant announcement will be made in July, she said, about the same time as another DNR grant she applied for with the Hubble Creek pedestrian bridge in Jackson City Park.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

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