City selects design-build team for Grant Avenue Parkway 

Provided by city of Springfield

The treelined parkway will pass behind Parkview High School, where public fundraising efforts could provide extra placemaking touches, like this Viking statue in the planned roundabout.

Provided by city of Springfield

Placemaking meets safety with proposed intersection design.

Ben Cummings: Design-build project leverages team's strengths.

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The design and construction team for the Grant Avenue Parkway corridor improvement project was named Tuesday afternoon during an online event from the city. 

The team, which calls itself the GAP Collaborative, comprises six companies. Leading the effort is Radmacher Brothers Excavating Co. Inc. of Pleasant Hill, in partnership with Kansas City-based project designers Cook, Flatt & Strobel Engineers Inc. and Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects LLC. 

VSM Engineering LLC of Kansas City will handle utility coordination and storm drainage design services, and Custom Engineering Design Co. Inc. will take on electrical engineering services for the undergrounding of utilities. Planning and public engagement consultation will be by Warsaw-based Shockey Consulting LLC. 

In announcing the team to lead the project, a city news release pointed out that Radmacher Brothers, CFS Engineering and Hoerr Schaudt have collaborated on similar corridor projects, including the $35 million Rogersville Project Freeway U.S. Highway 60 design-build project for the Missouri Department of Transportation and the Wornall Road design-build project in Kansas City.     

“The GAP Collaborative team understands the importance of creating vibrant, transformative space within public rights of way and will bring our global experience to the city of Springfield,” the team's project application said. “We create beautiful award-winning spaces that are authentic and true to their respective cities that are integrated with active mobility solutions. It is our plan to do the same in the Grant Avenue Parkway corridor.” 

Springfield City Council now must approve the project. The measure is scheduled for a first reading on Sept. 20. The deadline to obligate the $22 million federal Better Utilizing Investment to Leverage Development grant funding for the project is Sept. 30.  

“Our project team at the city is excited for the GAP Collaborative to join our team, and we’re ready to begin coordinating with our community partners, residents and stakeholders in making this project a reality for Springfield,” said city Public Works Project Manager Leree Reese.  

Construction on the Grant Avenue Parkway is dependent upon the contractors’ schedules, but it is anticipated to begin in 2022 with completion expected in 2024.  

Funded primarily by a $22 million federal BUILD grant, the Grant Avenue Parkway will provide major transportation improvements along Grant Avenue. 

The project will create a multiuse pedestrian and bicycle pathway along Grant Avenue between Sunshine Street and downtown Springfield. The three-mile stretch will connect downtown businesses and neighborhoods with the Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium.  

The route is envisioned to include bike- and pedestrian- friendly facilities, various traffic-calming improvements, bridge enhancements, utility upgrades, fiberoptic internet connectivity and additional crossing and intersection improvements.