Red tape and environmental issues have held back the paving of La-Z-Boy Drive, according to one Neosho official, but the project should finally get under way this spring.
At Tuesday evening’s city council meeting, City Manager Jan Blase reported that state funding has come through to pay for surfacing La-Z-Boy Drive from Spring Street to Business Route 60.
The road, which angles northwest toward Route 60 (College Street), is currently white gravel.
“Lord willing and the creeks don’t rise, we should begin this spring,” Blase said.
Blase could not be reached for further comment Wednesday afternoon or today before presstime.
But Neosho Public Works Director Mike Hightower said this morning that design plans have went to the Missouri Department of Transportation for approval and that everything should be in place by spring.
“It won’t take long to complete once they get started,” Hightower said.
The road project was actually one of four sold as a package to city voters when they OK’d a sales tax in April 2007 to fund the work. Of the others, the South Street overpass and Howard Bush Drive extension projects have both began, while improvements to Highway 59 are ongoing.
It looks like the city can keep most of its money, though, as Hightower said funding for almost the entire $400,000 project is being split by MoDOT and Kansas City Southern Railway.
The railroad got involved when it was determined rail crossings at both Morrow Street and Coler Street should be removed for safety. Drivers will have to enter onto La-Z-Boy Drive from Spring Street or Route 60, on either end.
Hightower didn’t immediately know exact cost figures, but he said the city’s end of it was minimal.
“We’re not putting hardly any local money into it at all,” Hightower said.
He said the project has been delayed because of procedural issues on the part of Tri-State Engineering, as well environmental hoops that had to be jumped through.
Because the work is being done close to Hickory Creek, the state required studies to determine if it would have a negative impact on the natural habitat and environment.
The road being located on a flood plain didn’t speed up the process any either, Hightower said.
“There was just a whole lot of red tape to cut through,” he said.
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Also in Tuesday’s council meeting, Blase announced that the state has made official a $400,000 grant to make design changes to Neosho’s downtown, which include widening the sidewalks around the Square. The city will pay in $40,000 of its own money.
