Meeker sidewalk project set for spring ’14

MEEKER I A Meeker town project in the works since 2008 may actually be undertaken come Spring 2014 after negotiations with three property owners are complete and bids can be let.
Meeker Town Manager Scott Meszaros said Tuesday that the plan to install sidewalks along the north side of Highway 13 in Meeker might actually occur this coming spring. He said there are some ongoing negotiations with three property owners in the area where sidewalks will be placed, then the project will hopefully be put out to bid early in the spring.
Under the current project, the sidewalk will be laid only on the north side of Highway 13 on the east end of town, opposite the new U.S. Forest Service/Bureau of Land Management building. From there, the walkway will run west to Fourth Street, Meszaros said.
“We hope to put out for bids in early spring,” he said. “But I have also heard from several people that work cannot begin on a Colorado Department of Transportation right of way until after May 1, so that may have an effect on when we actually start the project.
Meszaros said this phase of the roughly $850,000 sidewalk project will be funded with an 80 percent grant from the state and a 20 percent local match. That amount includes the engineering, design, labor and construction costs of the project.
Meszaros also said the town eventually wants to place sidewalks on the north and south sides of Highway 13, which is Market Street in town, from the current location all the way to the east end of town.
“We have already done the engineering work for the entire project,” he said. “We are hoping to continue working with CDOT on the entire project and we will most likely do the work in phases over as many years as it takes.
“A sidewalk along the main street in a town has the tendency to make the entire town look better,” Meszaros said. “That is our hope that sidewalks through town will improve the entire dynamic of the town to someone driving through.”
“I expect the entire project to take $3 million or more, but it is something we can do with the help of CDOT as the state’s and the Town of Meeker’s funds will allow.”