Audio clip
Bobby Nolen
TRACY CITY, Tenn. — City leaders said they’ll use an $84,000 transportation enhancement grant to build more sidewalks and install more streetlights in downtown Tracy City.
City Recorder Helen Dykes said the Tennessee Department of Transportation must approve Phase II plans for the town’s Pedestrian Enhancement Project before the money can be spent. No timeline has been set.
TRACY CITY ENHANCEMENT PROJECT
* $283,090: Total estimated cost to date
* $177,933: Phase I
* $105,157: Phase II
* $226,473: Total grants
* $56,617: Total local match
Source: Tracy City and Tennessee Department of Transportation
Phase II will pick up where the first phase left off in this Grundy County city of 1,700, Ms. Dykes said. The initial $177,933 phase was funded in 2005.
In that phase, “We put down new sidewalks and new lamps on two full city blocks,” she said. The sidewalk project passed “in front of the bakery and it went down around the Mini Park and came back to the back side on Depot Street.”
Ms. Dykes said she hopes the project’s next step looks as good as the initial face-lift.
Phase II, at more than $105,000, requires the city to kick in just over $21,000.
It includes about 560 feet of new sidewalk and decorative lampposts to close gaps left by earlier work, said Bobby Nolen, whose Birmingham, Ala.-based firm is in charge of design.
The new sidewalks will be built on Depot Street between Laurel Street and Railroad Avenue, and replacement sidewalks will go in adjacent areas, Mr. Nolen said.
“Phase two basically closes the gaps,” he said. “We want to complete all the work that was originally anticipated.”
Mr. Nolen said bidders are more competitive and construction costs are steadier, so there’s a chance Phase II bids could come in under budget.
Because the initial work wasn’t finished until January, this is the first time the new lamps and sidewalks were decorated for the holidays, Ms. Dykes said.
“It really helped the look of the city,” she said. “The lamps are real pretty. We’ve got Christmas lights on it, and everything’s blended in. It looks good.”
Next Christmas should be even better, she said.
Ben Benton is a news reporter at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He covers Southeast Tennessee and previously covered North Georgia education. Ben has worked at the Times Free Press since November 2005, first covering Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties and later adding Marion, Grundy and other counties in the northern and western edges of the region to his coverage. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Tenn., a graduate of Bradley Central High School. Benton ...
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