It could be sooner rather than later for Ripon getting that paved bike path along the Stanislaus River bordering on the southern edge of the Jack Tone Golf Course.
The City of Ripon is eligible for nearly $20,000 to go towards application development assistance or enough to hire Interwest Consulting Group.
That’s the same firm the City used for the successful grant for the Parkview Safe Route to School Project.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Ripon City Council will look to hire Interwest Consulting Group – not to exceed $19,420 – to conduct grant writing services for Measure K Renewal.
This would go towards the applications for:
uThe Lower Stanislaus River Bike Trail project consisting of about 3,800 feet of paving for the west segment behind the Jack Tone Golf Course.
uAbout 1,800 feet of sidewalk / Class I bike path on Doak Blvd.
uBike / Pedestrian Safe Route to School.
The San Joaquin Council of Governments recently approved the Measure K Strategic plan, calling for bicycle, pedestrian and Safe Routes to School Competitive Program and the Smart Growth Incentive Program as part of the “Combined Call for Projects.”
A total of $19.8 million is now available, including $3.85 million of that for bike, pedestrian, and Safe Routes to School Competitive Program, $7.78 million for the Smart Growth Incentive Program, and $8.17 million from the former debt service reserve fund for either program, according to Engineering Supervisor James Pease’s report.
Council, at the Sept. 12 meeting, authorized staff to proceed with the application for the Lower Stanislaus River Bike Trail – that’s the project connecting the paved Class I bike path located behind the City’s sewer pond on the west side of Highway 99 to the existing paved Class I bike path near the bike / pedestrian bridge on the east side of the freeway.
Currently, a dirt path is what connects the two locations.
“Once complete, the entire Class I bike path east of Highway 99 along the Stanislaus River would be complete – This would increase the engineering estimate from $350,000 to $500,000 which includes environmental, design and construction,” Pease added.
Staff would continue to use the $53,549 non-competitive portion allocation as matching funds to leverage the competitive funds, he noted.
Elected leaders will discuss this and more at the 6 p.m. open session in the Council Chambers, 259 N. Wilma Ave.
Call 209.599.2131 or log on to www.cityofripon.org for more information.