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The city of Riverside is planning to do nearly $3.5 million in improvements to a stretch of Airway Road — a project that officials say is long overdue and also in anticipation of increased traffic.
Airway Road, from the Woodman Drive intersection west to Smithville Road, will be upgraded as part of Riverside’s overall mission to improve the major thoroughfares in the city.
The estimated cost of the project is $3.44 million, and upgrades include resurfacing, street lighting, signage, curbs, storm drains and sidewalks, according to City Manager Bryan Chodkowski. That stretch of Airway Road is just under a mile and five lanes wide.
Earlier this month, city officials were notified that it was awarded more than $2.3 million in federal grant money to help fund the project, which is scheduled to occur in the 2020 construction season. Riverside applied for the surface transportation grant in October 2014.
The average daily traffic count is 16,800, with the estimated count projected to increase to 18,500 by 2020.
“Four-and-a-half years might seem like a long way for some people, but it will get here sooner than we know it,” Chodkowski said. “There’s plenty of opportunity to plan out construction and seek out additional funds from other sources. Hopefully, we’ll be successful there.”
Chodkowski said the city will apply for state and local grants to help pay the remaining $1.08 million of the project. Permissive tax dollars and the general fund also might be options, he said.
Mitch Miller, Riverside’s director of public services, said the city’s goal is to improve Airway Road east all the way to the Greene County line. The total length of Airway Road is about 11,800 feet.
The Airway/Woodman intersection was improved about 12 years ago, but it’s been at least 25 years since Airway Road received any upgrades, Miller said.
“Over time, Airway’s use has been going up, and we anticipate it going up even further,” Miller said. “It’s a good investment of taxpayers’ dollars to basically rework this road so it will last another 22 years, at least.”
Airway Road is part of the first group of streets in the city's major thoroughfare improvement plan. It joins Springfield Street, Needmore Road, Spaulding Road and Schwinn Drive as the worst major streets in Riverside, Chodkowski said.
“We’re thankful for the money and we plan to put it to good use to improve this well-traveled road in our community,” he said.
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