De Soto’s North Main Street Project has been expanded.
The De Soto City Council voted 4-0 May 17 to approve an agreement with the Missouri Department of Transportation and the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for the second stage of a two-phase construction project to add sidewalks and streetlights to North Main Street, De Soto City Manager said.
“That area of Main Street does not have many streetlights. It’s not very well lit, and a large portion of it does not have sidewalks,” he said. “This will get us sidewalks pretty much all the way from (Hwy.) 110 to run all the way down Main Street out to Vineland School Road.”
Phase 1 of the project will span Main Street from Skyline Drive near Hwy. 110 north of De Soto to approximately a half-mile south to Valley Place.
Phase 2 will run another approximately half-mile south from Valley Place to the recently reconstructed sections of sidewalk in front of the plaza that houses Dollar General, Melkus said.
Construction for the first phase of the project is slated for 2022, and the second phase should follow in 2023, Melkus said.
Construction for the first phase of the project is slated for 2022, and the second phase should follow in 2023, Melkus said.
The new sidewalks and streetlights will cost approximately $1 million for each phase, but 80 percent will be funded by MoDOT. The city will cover the remaining 20 percent with funds from its share of the countywide 1/2-cent sales tax for road and bridge improvements, meaning nothing will come out of the city’s coffers for the project, Melkus said.
In 2019, the city started the application process for the project through the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, a federally designated planning organization for the greater St. Louis area that awards funding for transportation projects, Melkus said.
“We try to apply for something every year. We’ve been pretty fortunate lately to get approval,” he said. “We just recently finished up the Rock Road sidewalk project, and that was a project that was also approved. We’ve been pretty fortunate to get some sidewalks and street resurfacing with the grants that we’ve applied for.”
The North Main Street project is still in the preliminary phases, and a construction contract will not be awarded for a while, Melkus said.
“We’re still a ways away from going out to bid,” he said. “It’ll probably be next year before we go out to bid.”
Councilwoman Kathy Smith was absent from the meeting.
Street paving
Also at the May 17 meeting, the De Soto City Council received an amended list of city streets to be repaired and resurfaced this summer.
“Every year we try to put $150,00 in the budget to do some street repairs, some street overlays throughout the city, and we always bring the list to the council to see if they have any questions or concerns,” Melkus said.
The list includes the following sections of streets, totaling approximately 0.65 miles:
■ North Grand Avenue between Boyd Street and Hiland Court.
■ Fifth Street between Fletcher and Perry streets.
■ Kennett Street from Flucom Road to East Plattin Street.
■ Hiland Court between Washington and Thomas streets.
■ Fourth Street between Essex and Olive streets.
■ Second Street from Pratt to Mineral streets.
The city’s previous list of streets to be resurfaced this year included Essex Street, but it has been removed and replaced with the section of Second Street.
Melkus said Essex Street was removed from the list for budgetary reasons.
“It was a very large stretch of roadway, so it put our estimate numbers above what we wanted it to be. We decided, due to the fluctuation of prices we might be seeing, we didn’t want to go out for bid and come in way over budget,” he said. “It’s definitely not going to be forgotten about, but for the moment, we felt that we could shift gears and move that money to Second Street and stay under our budget for this year.”
The estimated cost for the asphalt and milling work to be completed this summer is $136,058.37, which the city will cover with its share of the countywide 1/2-cent sales tax for road and bridge improvements, Melkus said.
“Luckily, we do have those funds, and that’s what we utilize to do the resurfacing every year. We just try to prioritize streets where the repairs are necessary, the overlays are necessary,” he said. “Unfortunately, there’s many more that need to be done, but we just have to try to figure out which ones need it in the short term.”
The city is accepting bids until June 24 for the work, and the start date for the project will be set after one is chosen, Melkus said.