Mount Vernon will complete a streetscape study for improvements to First Street and the north alleyway projects combined.
City administrator Chris Nosbisch said the study will take more than 12 months to complete, and will address infrastructure of the four blocks of uptown Mount Vernon.
“If you’ve walked the four block area of Uptown Mount Vernon, you know things aren’t getting any better for the streets,” Nosbisch said.
The city has a few options to explore for the streetscape, according to Nosbisch. The city could just do another overlay to the blocks, which would add a few more years of life to the streets. Nosbisch said the best option would probably be a full reconstruction of the road and infrastructure in the four blocks of First Street in uptown Mount Vernon, though that will also be the most expensive and most disruptive process.
An engineer study for the project will help the city explore options. Nosbisch also recommended First Street and the north alleyway projects possibly be folded into the same project.
“The north alley streetscape project is a little more complicated than the south alleyway proved,” Nosbisch said. “Some businesses use that alleyway for portions of their business, and others utilize access to that alleyway as well.”
Nosbisch said that the city will work with a contractor for the next 12 to 18 months to explore ideas for the streetscape and north alley designs.
Council member Stephanie West agreed it would probably be best to fold the First Street project and north alley project into one for the amount of disruption it could take.
Council member Scott Rose said while there will be some disruption for businesses in uptown Mount Vernon, the completion of the south alleyway could ease some pain felt by some business owners because of the access that allows.
Council member Paul Tuerler said the city might not know the status of the infrastructure until they dig the hole.
Tuerler also noted it is better to address a project like this now when there hasn’t been an infrastructure failure than when a failure forces something to be addressed.
Nosbisch said the project will impact four different groups as well – planning and zoning, the city of Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon Historic Preservation commission and Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group, so any plans for improvements will be thoroughly discussed.
The city has funding that will take care of the engineering study for options, and a decision on the improvements will be made in the next year.