Grandview seeks $2M in aid for First Avenue upgrades

Nearly a decade after the first phase was completed, the city of Grandview Heights plans to finish a project to improve safety measures and infrastructure on First Avenue.

The city plans to submit an application seeking grant money and a no-interest loan to cover the entire anticipated $2 million cost of the project, said P’elizabeth Koelker, director of planning and community development.

If Grandview’s applications were approved, the loan would cover about 75% of the total cost and the remaining 25% would be paid for through the hoped-for grant, she said.

About $30 million in SCIP (State Capital Improvements Program) and LTIP (Local Transportation Improvement Program) grant and loan funding is available in the next round of Ohio Public Works Commission funding for communities in District 3 (Franklin County), said Nate Vogt, infrastructure development manager for the Mid-ohio Regional Planning Commission.

The OPWC offers the local infrastructure funding and MORPC administers the program for District 3, he said.

“It’s a competitive bidding process with a number of criteria used to evaluate the applications that are submitted,” Vogt said. “We review and score the applications and the district’s public works integrating committee recommends the project awards for final OPWC approval.”

The number of people a project will affect and the condition of the infrastructure that needs to be addressed are among the main criteria that are evaluated and scored as part of the review process, he said.

The second-phase project would include First Avenue from Virginia to Grandview avenues, Mayor Greta Kearns said.

The first phase, completed in 2014, addressed roadway and infrastructure issues on First Avenue from Stevenson Elementary School to the new park developed on First as part of the Grandview Yard project, she said.

The goal of the first phase in particular was to extend access from First to the park and to provide enhanced safety for students and others walking and biking along the roadway, Kearns said.

“Safety is a major concern and reason for the second phase of the project,” she said.

First Avenue is considered a “complete street” or one that serves pedestrians and cyclists as much as motorists, Kearns said.

The planned improvements include adding ramps at several bus stops located in the project area and upgrading and widening sidewalks used by students walking and biking to school, Koelker said.

“Particularly during the peak time before and after school, the number of students gathering and queuing up on the sidewalks increases,” she said.

The city plans to add bump-outs at crosswalks along the road and add new sharrow marking, Kearns said.

Replacing water lines and relining sanitary sewers in the project area also are planned, Koelker said.

“A lot of the infrastructure dates back to the ‘40s or even the ‘30s and have exceeded their useful life span,” Kearns said.

The next round of loans and grants will be announced in early to mid-december, Vogt said.

The funding will be available to successful applicants in July 2023 and work on projects must get started by July 2024, he said.

If its application is successful, Grandview expects to begin the second phase of its First Avenue project in the late summer of 2023, Koelker said.

A preliminary design for the project has been completed, but a final design will not be done until the city learns if its funding request is successful, Kearns said.