By NATHAN KING
Salina Post
At Monday's Salina City Commission work session , commissioners heard a project update from the city utilities director and the project manager/civil engineer for the Smoky Hill River Renewal Project. The session provided commissioners with an in depth look at grant funding sources and project construction timelines.
Eric Dove, civil engineer and project manager, presented information about a funding source through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability (RAISE) United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Grant.
Dove said the RAISE Grant represents $1.5 billion aimed to help rural and urban communities move forward on projects that modernize roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports, and intermodal transportation and make transportation systems safer, more accessible, more affordable, and more sustainable.
"This particular year, there were 936 applications. The applications totaled over $28 billion in requests. Of those, the average awarding amount was about $13 million and with an average match of about 53 percent," Dove said. "For Smoky Hill, we received about $22 million in funding, well over the average and our contribution, how much we're kicking in, is way under the average. Pretty amazing that we were able to do that, in Kansas there are only two projects that were awarded funds. So this is one of the very few projects and for first time application, it's extremely rare, extremely rare."
The grant agreement is still working its way through the administrative process, but after the agreement is signed, entities will have seven years to use the funds on the project.
"Why Salina? Why did we get awarded? It is all thanks to the good work, we've done all the planning, all the community support," Dove said. "We had well over a dozen community support letters, one of the best applications they saw, local funding was already secured. A lot of these projects nationally don't have a vehicle for funding. So the sales tax and being able to raise that all came together. We also have the preliminary design down. So there's an evaluation of readiness to implement."
Due to the RAISE Grant originating from USDOT, the grant would cover elements of the project tied to improving infrastructure; including the seven bridges located on the Smoky Hill River in Salina.
History of the Smoky River channel;
Following the construction of a flood prevention diversion channel and levee system in the late 1950s and early 1960s the original Smoky Hill River channel that ran through Salina dried up.
In recent memory the "old channel" has minimal sustained base flow and has accumulated multiple feet of sediment. The old channel also receives stormwater from approximately 75 city storm sewer outfalls.
Salina obtained a water right to divert a portion of the Smoky Hill base flows into the old channel however, due to the sedimentation and various undersized culverts; a restoration effort is needed.
Project outline
During the work session Dove outlined each aspect of the grant proposal and how different project elements would support one another.
"We're going to get a new culvert at the levee. So we're going to decrease flooding by being able to evacuate the water out of the community faster," Dove said.
Dove also said that the project will restore Lakewood Lake to water levels not seen in decades. Additionally, Dove said that there will be new pedestrian trails and a new roadway bridge at Lakewood Park.
The plan also includes a safe crossing for pedestrians under N. Ohio Street.
"Dodging five lanes of traffic is tough. So that's going to increase pedestrian movement under North Ohio instead of over and at the same time I can use that box culvert to move more water to continue reducing flood damages within the community," Dove said.
The project also includes adding canoe and kayak launching areas to Riverside Park.
"Once complete, we will be able to canoe from Lakewood Middle School, right down into the park," Dove said.
New bridges at E. Elm Street, E. Ash Street, and E. Iron Avenue are also included in the project. The bridge on E. Iron Avenue will be decorative and will feature LED lighting, tying it to downtown improvements. The project also plans for a river boardwalk near Founders Park and a new boat ramp and river maintenance facility will be located just south of the Y.M.C.A
Martha Tasker, director of utilities for the city of Salina and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) Project Manager Seth Lerman presented at the work session. The costs for the project are listed below.
USACOE Total Project Costs:
Federal $13,705,000
Non- Federal City $ 7,610,000
TOTAL $21,315,000
RAISE Grant
Federal-------------------$22,112,620
Non-Federal City ----------$10,532,070
Non-Federal Friends of the River ------- $ 4,025,000
TOTAL $36,669,690