The road less traveled in Maryville will be opened to drivers today for the first time in months as Main Street construction comes to and end.
City officials will host a ribbon cutting at 5 p.m. today at the intersection of Jenkins and Main streets.
With the cutting of the ribbon, Main Street will open –– allowing traffic to once again travel between the north and south end of the city.
While the roughly $1.3 million street project was originally planned to be completed sometime in December, City Manager Matt LeCerf said Thursday the early reopening was due to the diligent work of Midland Surveying, Inc., White Cloud Engineering, Snyder & Associates and Loch Sand & Construction Company.
“We're definitely happy with the progress that was made and we wanted to keep all the money being spent local,” LeCerf said. “So actually we accomplished two objectives at once.”
He added that sidewalk work still needs to be completed along with additional road work on west Jenkins and Thompson streets.
“Due to our inability to predict the weather, we'll probably hold off on those other street projects until sometime after winter begins,” LeCerf said. “We don't want to start the project and have the road torn up only to have to stop due to inclement weather.”
He added both projects should be short and won't likely be much of an inconvenience to drivers .
The street project is part of a 10-year one half cent sales tax that was approved during the April election to raise $1.7 million to fund construction and capital improvements.
The revenue from the tax will be used to pay this debt back throughout a 7 year period while still allowing for other revenue to come in and complete other projects.
Meanwhile, the road opening comes just in time for the Northwest Missouri State University playoff game at noon on Saturday, Nov. 22, against Pittsburg (Kan.) State.
Part of Main Street reopened last time during the Bearcats' homecoming festivities earlier this fall.
LeCerf said he hopes just like last time, this road opening again makes it easier for visitors and area residents alike to enjoy the weekend.
