Pedestrian improvements in Flagstaff’s Downtown Mile will receive $32.5M in funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, according to a U.S Department of Transportation announcement last week.
Officials called the funding the largest transit investment in years for the City. Flagstaff will provide matching funds of $15M, with another $11M coming from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
The Downtown Mile Safety and Connectivity Improvement Project makes improvements along a mile-long span of rail and roadway in Flagstaff’s downtown. Components include:
- Pedestrian gates at rail crossing at both San Francisco and Beaver streets,
- A pedestrian underpass at Rio de Flag,
- A pedestrian underpass at Florence-Walnut, and
- A pedestrian underpass at Milton Road that will also allow for future widening of the road to six lanes from its current four.
The Rio de Flag underpass is also considered part of a larger flood control project that Flagstaff and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been working on for nearly 20 years.
The Downtown Mile project was the only project in the state to secure funding in the current round. City officials hope to get construction underway by 2024. (Source)