The Riverwalk extension will likely get another extension.
Lowndes County supervisors voted unanimously to approve a Mississippi Department of Transportation proposal that would extend the just-extended Columbus Riverwalk an additional 120 feet.
Kevin Stafford of Neel-Schaeffer engineering said the idea of adding the extra paved walkway came at the suggestion of the MDOT, which had worked with the county and Columbus on the recently-completed extension that connected the Riverwalk with the Columbus Soccer Complex.
“MDOT said they would like to see if we could take the walkway farther out into the soccer complex,” Stafford told the supervisors. “What they suggested was to add an addition 120 between where it currently stops on the east side of the complex and connect it to the parking lot on the west side of Moore’s Creek.”
Stafford informed the board that the county and city’s share of the project would be $3,000 each.
Bill Brigham made a motion to pass the proposal, contingent in the city approving its share of the cost. Leroy Brooks second the motion, which passed unanimously.
The new addition will not require re-bidding since the cost falls well below the 10 percent cost of the original contract, which called for $194,000 in matching funds from the county and city. Columbus Light and Water also contributed $45,000 to cover lighting the walkway.
“The work should be able to start right away,” Stafford said. “It’s something that could be done in a week. Really, the weather is the only thing that would hold things up. I would say this could be finished in early April.”
The new addition comes about a month after the completion of the 900-foot extension connecting the Riverwalk and the soccer complex.
“We still plan to have a grand opening in the mid-to-late spring,” Stafford said. “We want to give the grass that we planted along the walkway time to grow in a little before we open it up to the public.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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