2 days ago
Willmar OKs gap funding for part of $1.2M Lakeland Drive off-street path
Jun. 10---- The
unanimously approved tapping the city's Community Investment Fund to temporarily finance improvements of an off-street path along Lakeland Drive from U.S. Highway 12 to Civic Center Drive Northeast.
City engineer Jared Voge of Bolton & Menk informed the council that the project received two grants — an Active Transportation grant in the amount of $204,380 and a Transportation Alternatives grant in the amount of $895,620.
The estimated construction cost of the bike and pedestrian trail is $979,900 and the total estimated cost including administration, contingencies and engineering is $1.2 million, according to information from Voge.
"By being proactive in their pursuit of funding, the city of Willmar has secured funding for approximately 80% of the total project costs associated with a high-priority connection within its bike and pedestrian network," Voge said in an email to the West Central Tribune.
Voge told the council on June 2 that approximately $979,900 of the project costs are eligible for reimbursement from the grants and recommended accepting the full Active Transportation grant and $775,520 of the Transportation Alternatives grant. The city will fund $245,000 of the project costs.
The Community Investment Fund will temporarily finance the $775,520 portion of the costs until the Transportation Alternatives grant becomes available in 2028.
The
was established by the
in 2018 and provides grant funding for the construction of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure projects that will improve transportation options and reduce vehicle miles traveled, according to information included in a resolution approved by the council at the Dec. 12, 2024, meeting.
During this funding cycle, the
had $12.5 million in state funding to award to selected projects in Greater Minnesota to address safety concerns, equity and engage the community in project development.
The
makes available federal funding for non-motorized infrastructure to applicants across Greater Minnesota and had $12.45 million to award to selected projects, according to information included in the resolution approved Dec. 12, 2024.
The resolutions state that the existing bike and pedestrian infrastructure in Willmar is fragmented, creating safety risk for users and discouraging alternative transportation modes. The existing infrastructure also includes several barriers to accessibility — as identified in Willmar's 2020 Americans with Disabilities Act Transition Plan — that will be addressed by the Lakeland Drive path project.
The resolutions also state that the Lakeland Drive path project will expand multi-modal access to critical employment centers downtown and to the
and
The Active Transportation grant is scheduled for funding in 2026 and projects must be completed in 2026. The Transportation Alternatives grant will not be available until 2028, but can be used to reimburse the city for construction of the path, according to Voge.
The approval to temporarily fund the project using the Community Investment Fund was needed in order to inform the funding agencies that the grants will be accepted, according to Voge.
He also explained that there will be additional agreements and other items that come before the City Council throughout the process of accepting the grants.
Councilors Audrey Nelsen and Tom Gilbertson voiced concerns during the June 2 discussion that the Transportation Alternatives grant is federal funding and asked if there is a potential that the funding would not be disbursed.
"If you're alluding to this uncertainty right now at the federal level, all I can say is that the project has been awarded the funding," Voge said. " ... I can't definitively tell you with 100% certainty that something at the federal level is not going to happen to claw the money back."
He explained that there have been delays on other projects, but not removal of awarded funding through a federally authorized grant program.
