The City of Ozark has received a $870,950 from the Ozark Transportation Organization to complete a portion of the Chadwick Flyer Greenway Trail.
This will include two underpasses and over 4,000 feet of biking and walking trails.
The total cost of the project is $1.8 million and is a major component to connecting the cities of Ozark and Springfield.
More details on the project:
The City of Ozark is proud to announce it has received a grant in the amount of $870,950.00 from the Ozark Transportation Organization to complete Phase I of the southern portion of the Chadwick Flyer Greenway Trail. Together with Ozark R-VI Schools, Ozark Greenways, MoDOT Cost Share, and Land/Easement Donations this particular phase will provide two underpasses and nearly 4,010 linear feet of trails primarily focusing on bicycle and pedestrian connectivity. The total cost of this project is $1.8M, and is a major component to accomplishing the vision of someday creating a continuous connection between the cities of Ozark and Springfield. The connection is planned along an abandoned portion of the Chadwick Flyer railway corridor along Jackson Street in Ozark, Missouri.
According to Jeremy Parsons, Ozark Public Works Director, “this has been a multi-year planning process and when our community partners recognized that our best opportunity to complete these improvements were to combine them with MoDot’s Jackson Street/HWY 14 widening roadway project, we worked together and made it happen.”
City Staff working together with the Ozark Transportation Organization and the Ozark School District, identified possible routes for grade-separated underpasses that would provide safe passages along and underneath the Jackson Street/HWY 14 Corridor between the primary school campus and the new Innovation Center.
The Ozark School Board is committed to the safety of our students and with the widening of Jackson St, crossing safely will be a concern. Ozark Schools, the City of Ozark and the other partners involved will be able to pool resources under this grant for the betterment of the Ozark community as well as improved safety for our students. These are some very exciting times to be in Ozark and this is just one more example as why it is such a great place to live and raise a family.
Any time you can find grant funds to add bicycle and pedestrian improvements to a roadway widening project when one of our City’s goals is to become a more pedestrian friendly community, then you go after it,” says Steve Childers, Ozark City Administrator.
The tentative project start date is Summer 2020 and will continue until projected completion time of Fall 2021. The City of Ozark would like to thank it’s partners Ozark Transportation Organization, Ozark School District, and Missouri Department of Transportation for helping us bring this asset to our community. We are proud of our partners and their willingness to look into the future, while maintaining the integrity of the Chadwick Flyer’s past so our citizens may have the opportunity to explore and learn more about our local history.
