O'boro gets grant for bike routes

In the October 1st edition of the M-I, there was an article about a grant the city was awarded to build bike routes along Old Hartford Road. The city previously was awarded the $231,000 Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant from the state to stripe bike lanes on city streets, but the city's engineering department created a policy barring bike lanes from city streets narrower than 32 feet among other objections. The City Commission then decided to redirect their focus to building off-street paths instead of striping lanes on existing streets. The connection on Old Hartford Road will include paths along both sides of Old Hartford Road south from the David C. Adkisson Greenbelt Park toward Hillcrest Golf Course. Once on the Greeneblt, riders can encircle the entire city.

In addition, work is expected to be completed by mid-December on a 2.5-mile connection of the Greenbelt from Southtown Boulevard to Shifley Park on the west side of Owensboro.

The city also signed an agreement with the state Transportation Cabinet to be reimbursed for building bike routes along Booth Avenue as part of the Safe Routes to School program.