Sidewalk Project Update
– By #MillerSD
Recently, the City of Miller had a letter submitted from a concerned citizen about the upcoming sidewalk project on 5th street. It’s been a while since we have talked about this project so this is a great opportunity to talk about the history behind the sidewalk.
This sidewalk project isn’t something that happened over night. On Hand Development started working with a team of folks back in 2015 about the idea of bringing safe routes to our school and community center. This sidewalk on 5th street is phase one of a greater, bigger plan.
We are working on improving the quality of life in Miller and this plan would provide a safe route for everyone that uses the path from the school to the Community Center and will be a significant upgrade to the city of Miller.
Here is a brief history of the Miller Bike Path Phase 1:
- Summer 2015- Bike Trails Committee Formed because of the need for more paths.
- December 2015- OHDC received a $10,000 grant from The Wellmark Foundation for a Community Kickstarter Grant
- January 2016- The Bike Trails Committee met about bringing a “safe routes to school”
- September 2017- Bike Trails Committee held a “Trail Mix” event (advertised event)
- May 2018- Engineers toured the proposed routes with team
- July 2018- The Transportation Study was completed
- May 2019- Transportation Study was updated
- June 17, 2019- City Council meeting and City signed the Letter of Intent (public meeting)
- August 12, 2019- OHDC, city of Miller, engineer, and DOT met about path
- August 19, 2019- Safe Route to School Event on 5h Street (advertised event)
- August 21, 2019- OHDC met with the City of Miller to talk about concerns on the path and city suggested public meetings and OHDC visiting with residents on the path
- August 23, 2019- OHDC visited with residents on 6th street door to door
- September 4, 2019- City Council Agenda and discussion about route (public meeting)
- September 7, 2019- Changes made to the South Side of street due to concerns
- September 13, 2019- Special City Council Meeting to talk about concerns (public meeting)
- September 13, 2019- City signed resolution 2019-11
- September 27, 2019- Grant was submitted
- November 13, 2019- OHDC, the City of Miller and the Miller School District presented the path to the DOT for grant consideration
- February 4, 2020- City of Miller was selected by SD Transportation Commission to receive $214,576.88 in federal TA funding to complete Miller Bike Path Phase 1
- April 26, 2021- Design Kick-Off Meeting with OHDC, City of Miller, The Miller School, SDDOT, Brosz Engineering and SHE.
- 2022- Estimated construction begins
The City of Miller did a great job listening to the concerns of the residents and doing their research. They had three city meetings with the proposed project on the agenda and listened to concerned citizens at that time. They talked in length about painting stripes down the street, snow removal, and other issues. All of these meetings were published in The Miller Press.
On Hand appreciates the City of Miller, the Bike trail team, the Miller School District, NECOG, and all of the partners making things happen in our community. I urge folks to stay connected to the issues in our community by attending meetings, getting involved and reading The Miller Press. It’s a lot easier to address issues as they happen versus years later when all of the good work is done. Good work takes time and I am so proud of our community for investing that time in good work.
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