By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — Construction of a multi-million dollar sidewalk improvement plan near Lincoln Elementary in Warsaw is now on the horizon.
(see map at the bottom of this story)
The city of Warsaw has been seeking to improve sidewalks west of the school for years, but it’s been a long four-year slog.
The city is working with the Indiana Department of Transportation, which will cover 80 percent of the cost of the project.
All of the work will be west of the school, according to Justin Taylor, the city’s plan director.
The city made it a priority years ago after Warsaw Community Schools made an effort to expand the areas near schools where children can walk to and from the school.
“It’s about two miles of new sidewalk — so yeah, it’s substantial,” said Justin Taylor, the city planner.
“That’s why we brought in INDOT and they’re paying for 80 percent of it. Locally it would have been harder for us to come up with all the funds to pay for two miles of sidewalk. With INDOT, there’s a lot more to the process, but we’re able to get more bang for the buck.”
Four years ago, the project was expected to cost about $1.2 million. The price tag is now $3.2 million.
Taylor said they’ve seen those price hikes across the board when doing projects.
While some of the work involves sidewalk replacement, much it will be adding new sidewalks where there were none before.
Construction is set to begin this fall and should be complete by the spring.
