Jamestown  (CSi)  Jamestown’s Mayor Katie Andersen says the grant application with the federal Department of Transportation for the project to reduce the number of traffic lanes through  Downtown Jamestown along with other traffic flow improvements  is still in the review process.

On Monday’s Wayne Byers Show on CSi Cable 2, she said the city expects to hear word whether the application has been approved in June this year, and what areas of the application may have been approved.

At this point the project cost is on cost share with 80-percent federal, administrated through the NDDOT, with the city’s share 20 percent.

Those percentages may change depending on how the project is approved, and through funds set aside by Governor Doug Burgum’s Main Street Initiative, with the Urban Road Grant Program.

She added that the application includes several items on the list, and not all will likely be approved for funding.

The mayor said the city’s share may be paid through Special Assessment to benefiting property owns, or by increasing the city sales tax regarding infrastructure, or another fund.

She said property taxes would NOT be increased.

The  $3.1 million Urban Road Grant applied for the downtown project, would include re-striping the street, upgrading the traffic signals, and pedestrian crossing signals, and extending sidewalks to  the width of the parking lanes at the crosswalks.  She said the new traffic signals will be modernized, with no addition or deletion of the present signals, which will also receive a change in timing between the signals, and pedestrian control of the lights changing color, with a button at the base of the traffic signal arm.  The current traffic signals were purchased, used, from the City of Grand Forks.

The Mayor added that the changes in the traffic lanes, including the left turn only lanes would come from re-striping, and no other physical changes, such as medians.

Diagonal parking is NOT an option with the project.

She pointed out that the heavy traffic count of about 10,000 vehicles per day is in the area of 10th Street Southeast and First Avenue South, near First Community Credit Union.

The application includes funds for benches and tree plantings.

Travis Dillman, at Interstate Engineer in Jamestown says the scope of the project includes a bike path on the north side of 5th Street Northwest, along with a bump-out at 4th Avenue, Northwest.

He says the change would entail striping the pavement.

He pointed out that the bike path may or may not be included, pending the final plans approved, and funded.