Hunter
9/5/19
Citing an increase in pedestrian traffic on Riverside Drive between Myrtle Avenue and Benton Street, city engineers are revisiting the construction of an underground tunnel to make it safer to get past the overhead railroad tracks.
Sidewalks on both sides of the street end at the embankments for the tracks, leaving an unsafe and narrow area to walk without going into the street. With a new Kum and Go and apartment building on the west side of the street, there has been an increase in pedestrian traffic there.
The city’s plan is to build a lighted, 8-by-9 foot tall tunnel through the embankment that would keep pedestrians away from the street.
Assistant City Engineer Scott Sovers tells the Cedar Rapids Gazette says there would have to be a public hearing and council approval of the estimated $1 million project before bids could go out. He’s hoping that can still happen this fall, and construction could start this winter.