A pickup truck navigates on Monday the intersection at First and Main in Maryville, Missouri. Also known as Missouri Highway 46, First Street running east to west will benefit from major federally funded upgrades.Â
A pickup truck navigates on Monday the intersection at First and Main in Maryville, Missouri. Also known as Missouri Highway 46, First Street running east to west will benefit from major federally funded upgrades.Â
Marcus Clem | News-Press NOW
City Manager Greg McDanel speaks on Monday in Maryville, Missouri.Â
MARYVILLE, Missouri — A grant of $1.4 million is set for the home community of Northwest Missouri State University to improve its main east-west road.
A RAISE Grant (so called as a backronym for Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) is a U.S. Department of Transportation's long-standing competitive award. It is for communities that want to improve major infrastructure and can't afford to do so with local funds alone.
It will help pay to renovate and improve First Street to add safety features, increase traffic flow to businesses and change the overall look of one of the town's busiest thoroughfares, City Manager Greg McDanel said.Â
"Through this partnership, the city of Maryville will and its citizens can really reimagine the corridor," he said. "Just about everything will be included in this planning grant."Â
U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, the long-serving Republican delegate in Congress for much of northern Missouri, touted the grant's potential for the region.
"I’m thrilled to see another project moving forward in Maryville with the help of a RAISE grant," said Graves, who is from nearby Tarkio, Missouri. "These grants are highly competitive and Maryville’s forward thinking nature continues to pay dividends."Â
In a news release, Graves reflected on how this RAISE Grant follows on to the South Main Street Corridor project, which has received about $16.4 million in U.S. Department of Transportation funding.Â
Main Street, otherwise known as U.S. Business Highway 71, is the north-south avenue that is most often used by drivers entering from the direction of St. Joseph. That work, which is nearly finished, has been larger and costlier than what will be done with First Street/Missouri Highway 46. The Main Street-scale of lane expansion, and consequent forest of detours and orange cones, won't be taking place along First Street.
McDanel said the renovated road will have a more localized impact.Â
"Anyone who travels east-west through the community generally uses the Missouri 46/First Street corridor," he said. "The pedestrian elements of the corridor, in particular, are going to be tremendous for local citizens."Â
Marcus Clem can be reached at marcus.clem@npgco.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NPNowClem
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