(Arnolds Park)– The city of Arnolds Park is hoping for some give and take from the state when it comes to funding for a project to put in stoplights at the intersection of 202nd Street and Highway 71…or the “Taco House” corner.
The city council Wednesday authorized city staff to apply for funding through the D-O-T’s TEA 21 Program…now known as “Safety Lou”. Under the application, Arnolds Park will return 178,500-dollars that was previously awarded but not spent for a project to realign Linden Drive with the hopes the state will give the money back to the city for use with the stoplight project instead. As we reported previously, new cost estimates for the project have come in much lower than first expected. The new estimate is slightly more than 400-thousand dollars…compared with more than 700-thousand in previous estimates. The project would include the construction of turning lanes.
The cities of Arnolds Park, West Okoboji and Milford will be contributing toward the project, along with the state. The county also has jurisdiction over a small parcel of land on one side of the intersection, but has opted not to participate in the project, saying it will probably be annexed sometime in the near future.
City Administrator Ron Walker says they hope to submit bids for the turning lane work in July with construction getting underway in mid-August with completion by mid-October. The traffic signals themselves would be bid in October with installation in November. It’s hoped they would be up and running by May 15th, 2007.
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