By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS ó Federal stimulus funds totaling $1.7 million will help pay for two public works projects in downtown Kannapolis.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will cover half the cost to install a pedestrian tunnel under Loop Road, connecting the N.C. Research Campus with Village Park.
The stimulus funds also will pay the entire cost of upgrading four sets of downtown traffic lights.
“It takes a burden off of the local governments,” Kannapolis City Manager Mike Legg said. “It relieves that burden of having to borrow as much money for these projects.”
Originally, the projects were included in a $168.4 million tax-increment financing bond package designed to pay for infrastructure improvements at the new Research Campus, a life sciences hub in downtown Kannapolis owned by California billionaire David Murdock.
But the poor economy delayed the bond sale.
Now, only the balance of the tunnel and streetlight projects ó about $900,000 ó will be included in the TIF bond. Stimulus funds will cover the rest.
“This is money Kannapolis and Cabarrus County don’t have to come up with,” Legg told the Kannapolis City Council Monday night.
Council voted to install a precast pedestrian tunnel under Loop Road, as well as an 84-inch storm drainage system.
The $2.1 million project also includes widening Loop Road to accommodate dual left-turn lanes at the intersection with West A Street.
The N.C. Department of Transportation will pay $1.2 million toward the project using stimulus funds.
The traffic signal project includes upgrading signals and installing metal poles at three intersections:
– Main and First streets
– First Street and Ridge Avenue
– Main Street and Jackson Park Road
Estimated at $500,000, this project also includes installing a new signal with metal poles and mast arms at Main Street and Laureate Way, formerly known as Research Campus Drive.
The N.C. Department of Transportation agreed last spring to fund the two projects with stimulus dollars because design was complete or well underway.
“They asked us for projects that were shovel-ready,” Legg said.
The state will do the construction and improvements. Tunnel work should start in spring 2010, and the less-involved signal upgrades could begin sooner, Legg said.
Regardless of opinions about the federal stimulus, it makes sense to take advantage of the money, he said.
“Citizens pay a lot in federal taxes, and whether you agree with the stimulus package, there is money there,” Legg said. “And if we don’t get it locally, somebody in Maine or Colorado gets those dollars.”