Big grant awarded Streetscape

The Town of Bath has received a grant of $380,000 for the continuation of the Streetscape project.

Statewide, grants were awarded to 36 separate projects totaling $7,036,864 as part of the Federal Transportation Enhancement Grant Program.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration and West Virginia Division of Highways, announced the awards yesterday.

“This is our third attempt to get the grant,” Streetscape Committee co-chair Larry Lower said.

He said the grant is part of a $475,000 project to continue work on Mercer Street from the corner of Fairfax Street past The Morgan Messenger office and firehouse to Congress Street, and work planned on Congress, Independence and Union streets.

The $95,000 shortfall will have to be made up from other funding sources, Lower said.

He estimates the earliest the town will receive a notice to proceed from the state will be mid-summer. At that point, the design work can start with construction to begin sometime in 2014.