The city of Mount Vernon’s sidewalk repair projects will be placed for bid next spring.
City administrator Chris Nosbisch said that bids had not been completed on the projects from 2021 through 2023 due to COVID-19 and a lack of contractors who were willing to do construction work on sidewalk elements.
“We feel we can get a successful bid for a contractor on these projects next spring and summer,” Nosbisch said. “That will complete improvements to the remaining quadrants of the city where these improvements are required.”
Nosbisch said after that construction program is completed, the council may need to look at the next phase of the sidewalk project, which would address gaps in the current sidewalks in the city.
“Where the city had some enforcement elements about addressing broken sidewalks from a public safety perspective, filling in the gaps where sidewalks have not existed could be a little more challenging to review,” Nosbisch said.
Council member Scott Rose said that there was a study on connectedness of sidewalks conducted by University of Iowa students several years ago.
“They found that it would be just addressing roughly a half dozen gaps that would bring the whole city connected via sidewalk,” Rose said.
Nosbisch said the discussion on sidewalks would most likely be a project a year to a year-and-a-half in the future for the city council.