Kimmswick residents and any other interested parties are invited to check out plans to improve parts of Market Street and Fifth Street in the city at an April 30 public hearing.
The Jefferson County Public Works Department will hold the hearing from 4-6 p.m. at the Rock Memorial American Legion, 910 Montebello Road, in Imperial, when it will provide information about its plans to install sidewalks, overlay streets and complete other improvements.
As is customary at the department’s open-house style public hearings, there will be no formal presentation.
“You can come at any time, view the drawings of what’s being planned and talk to staff and the engineers,” Public Works Director Jason Jonas said. “You’ll be able to offer your comments on what’s being planned, and the engineers will take any useful information and incorporate it into the final drawings.”
What’s being planned is actually two different, but related, projects. One involves work on Market Street and the other Fifth Street.
“For the Fifth Street part, we’re planning a sidewalk from Windsor Elementary (in Kimmswick) at Fifth and High streets to Beckett Street (Hwy. K) to border the city park there. There will be a 10-foot shared use path (for pedestrians and bicyclists) with a tree-lined buffer,” Jonas said.
Fifth Street will be reconstructed from High to Beckett, and then the project will go a block south to Fourth Street and then to Market Street.
“There will be new roadway; sidewalks with curbs and gutters; parking; lighting and signage,” Jonas said.
The Market Street portion will take in the area from Fourth Street to Windsor Harbor Road and will involve repaved roads, sidewalks, parking, lighting, stormwater drains and signs.
Jonas said the stretch from Market to Front will be changed.
“What’s there now is two-way traffic, but very limited pedestrian access and no on-street parking,” he said. “What we’re planning is one-way traffic on Market with sidewalks, parking on both sides of the street and improved stormwater drainage.”
Jonas said work on both projects should begin in mid-2025.
The engineering firm selected to design the project, Crawford, Murphy and Tilly of St. Louis, has estimated that the Market Street work will cost $1,560,000, and the Fifth Street improvements another $1,140,000, with the federal government covering 70 percent of all costs and the rest drawn from the county’s share of the countywide 1/2-cent sales tax for road and bridge improvements.
Kimmswick Mayor Phil Stang said he plans to attend the public hearing.
“I’ll absolutely be there,” he said. “These plans have been part of our Great Streets Initiative and are included in our comprehensive plan. The residents we’ve talked to are all for making Market a one-way street.”