Two of the city’s oldest bridges get federal funding for repairs

Springfield City Council accepted two federal transportation grants at its meeting last night and heard a report on another.

The three grants will bring $27.7 million in federal funds to the city.

The city received two grants from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission’s Surface Transportation Block Grant Program, each funding 80% of the cost of infrastructure improvement projects.

The funds are provided through the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed by Congress in 2021. The U.S. Department of Transportation administers the STBG program established by the act to authorize $1.2 trillion for transportation and infrastructure spending. The legislation calls for half of the federal funds to be used for new investments and programs and half to maintain and restore existing infrastructure, according to the DOT website.

A $2 million grant from the program will fund maintenance and rehabilitation of the Grant Avenue viaduct, and a $935,000 grant will go toward maintenance and rehabilitation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge on Benton Avenue.

The bridges are among the oldest in the city.

The Grant Avenue viaduct project will include replacement of expansion joints, bridge deck repairs, epoxy overlay and substructure repair. The city’s share of the project, which is already budgeted, will cost $506,000, to be funded by the eighth-cent transportation sales tax.

“This is rehabilitation for one of the longest city-maintained bridges that we have in the community,” said Eric Claussen, assistant director of Public Works.

The bridge was built in 1927 and some rehabilitation work took place in 1978.

“So, quite a few years since we’ve done anything with this bridge,” he said.

He said the work will move the city to the point where it will not have to worry about the bridge for another 20-25 years.

The MLK Bridge project will include replacement of expansion joints and application of an epoxy coating. As with the Grant Avenue viaduct project, the work is estimated to preserve the bridge for another 20-25 years, Claussen said. The city’s 20% share of the project, also to come from the transportation sales tax and estimated at $234,000, is already budgeted.

He called the funding a tremendous opportunity to have federal funds pay for the bulk of the work.

Councilmember Brandon Jenson inquired about some placemaking efforts by neighborhood residents of the Grant Avenue viaduct, specifically the application of murals to its structural support members.

“I believe they’ve been running into issues with right-of-way access,” he said.

Claussen said his department is working through details on that project with the city’s legal department.

“Adding public art like that to infrastructure a lot of times alleviates the concern for graffiti and that sort of thing, so we’ll definitely look into that and work with the law department to be able to achieve that,” Claussen said.

In other grant news, City Manager Jason Gage reported on the $24.8 million grant from the U.S Department of Transportation to remove gaps in the city’s Wilson’s Creek, Jordan Creek and Trail of Tears trails. According to past Springfield Business Journal reporting, the 3.1 miles of trails to be constructed will connect west-side neighborhoods and include four pedestrian bridges, traffic calming, green infrastructure, Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible sidewalks and dedicated bike paths, as well as the removal of at-grade crossings and abandoned culverts.

The funds are being provided through the federal program called Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, or RAISE.

The DOT website notes, “The RAISE program enables DOT to use a rigorous merit-based process to select projects with exceptional benefits, explore ways to deliver projects faster and save on construction costs, and make needed investments in our nation’s infrastructure.”

Gage noted the application was based heavily on citizen input to connect many of the city’s economically challenged neighborhoods.

“A lot of these connections are the difficult and more expensive connections that take a lot of those segments of our trails and connects them to have a more comprehensive and holistic trail system,” he said.

Gage said although the city applied for the funds, being selected was a surprise.

“We’re very fortunate,” he said. “We honestly didn’t anticipate getting that this year – we thought we might have to reapply next year.”

Filling in gaps in the city’s trail network – an initiative referred to as “UnGap the Map” – is one of the top 10 initiatives in the Forward SGF 20-year comprehensive plan.

In addition to the federal transportation grants, council also accepted $1 million in grant funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund, which provides loans to private entities and subgrants to nonprofit organizations to clean up contaminated properties in the city. The program has been in place in the city since 1999.