Grants will bring pedestrian/bike sidewalk to RBC, from middle school to sports complex
Rainbow City will be recipient of two grants — one of which will let the city extend sidewalks from Rainbow Middle School along Kinize Lane to the Etowah County Mega Sports Complex.
Mayor Joe Taylor said Gov. Kay Ivey sent a letter advising the city that its fiscal year 2023 application for the Federal Transportation Alternatives Set-aside Program had been approved, meaning the city would receive funding. The mayor said the projected cost of the project is estimated at $1 million.
The planned sidewalk will accommodate pedestrians and bike riders, Taylor said, and will lead to a crosswalk at the sports complex, where six soccer fields are slated to be ready for play early next year. It will be a wide, lighted walkway, he said.
In addition, the project will bring lighting to the trail that leads from Rainbow Middle to Vivian Lee Maddox Park.
City leaders are pleased with the project, Taylor said, which is likely to be finished by the summer of 2023. The mayor said with the city's plan to build a recreation center beside Rainbow Middle School, the sidewalk will help to connect the city's recreational facilities.
The council's agenda included accepting a proposal from GMC for the engineering and lighting for the Kinzie Lane sidewalk project.
The City Council recently approved adding a 1% sales tax in Rainbow City, bringing its sales tax rate even with most surrounding cities at 10%. The additional revenue will be dedicated to capital improvements, and the rec center is one of the projects city leaders have in mind.
Rainbow City will get a grant from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, too, for $41,120 to improve the city's recycling program. The city has drop-off recycling for cardboard now, Taylor said, and hopes to be able to expand to accept plastic bottles.
The grant will fund the purchase of truck and three recycling trailers, he said.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Federal funds will bring lighted sidewalks to link school, sports park
