Projects
Marion Streetscape Improvements
Imagine walking through your community’s downtown and feeling proud. The American flag is waving, citizens are patronizing businesses, kids are laughing and playing, and traffic is flowing smoothly. As a citizen of this community, you are happy to see your tax dollars spent wisely investing in your town. The revitalization of the City of Marion’s downtown first phase was all this and more.
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ProjectsProject Information
Services Provided- Infrastructure, Evaluation and Planning
- Preliminary Engineering Reports
- Project Funding and Grant Application
- State and Federal Permits
- Streetscape
- Surveying
The City wanted to connect the high traffic Central Park to downtown creating connectivity with a historic period theme. They wanted to provide a uniform look for the downtown business district and called EBH Engineering to design and oversee the construction. A KDOT Transportation Alternative grant assisted in the funding of the project. The first phase of the Marion Downtown Revitalization project included:
- 4 blocks of updating main street in the business district
- Replacing sidewalk, curb and crosswalks to ADA standards
- Constructing ADA accessibility to all business entrances
- Creating pedestrian protection zones at each traffic intersection
- Replacing homely, outdated streetlights with historical period themed energy efficient LED lighting for pedestrians and vehicle traffic
- Adding benches and trash cans in high traffic areas throughout downtown
The biggest challenge of the project was keeping businesses open and traffic flowing on a KDOT highway with no option for a detour. Utilizing creative traffic control allowed K256 never to be closed. Schedule and coordination were crucial to the livelihood of the community and the contractor worked diligently with the city and EBH. The contractor accommodated businesses by completing work outside their front doors when the businesses were scheduled to be closed.
Today, Marion Downtown has much more foot traffic. It’s a clean, well lit area where citizens feel safe to walk or ride their bike any time of day. Many local organizations contributed to the project by donating banners and flags which promotes festivals, celebrations, and community events. It is truly a community beautification project for the City of Marion.
Grant Programs Used- KDOT
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Darin Neufeld, PE
