The City of Delaware is seeking funding from the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) for a trio of improvement projects around the community. During Monday’s City Council meeting, the council authorized City Manager Tom Homan to submit applications for federal attributable funding, which is provided through MORPC.

Applications for the funding are due by the end of September, prompting council to take action during Monday’s meeting.

Included in the projects are trail connectors, improvements to the East Central Avenue and Lake Street intersection, and the preservation of East Central Avenue. The trail connector project would extend the multi-use trail located between Mingo Park and Olentangy Avenue to points further south toward Meeker Way and possibly even beyond the state Route 315 intersection depending on the final scope of the project.

As part of the application for funding, the city will include seven segments of the path, listed by priority, to be considered based on the level of funding awarded. If funding is secured, the primary segment would stretch between Hawthorne Boulevard and Meeker Way at a total cost of $1,209,761.

The second priority would be a connector on the west side of U.S. Route 23, in front of the Delaware Community Plaza, that would connect existing paths near Hawthorne Boulevard and Hull Drive at a projected cost of $2,383,163. Priorities three and four would involve connectors along Stratford Road from Olentangy Avenue to the existing paths around the Coughlin Crossing development and Meeker Way.

Projected costs for all seven segments are estimated to total approximately $8,655,177 based only on the conceptual-level estimates, which could change depending on the final scope of the project after funding is secured.

The East Central Avenue and Lake Street intersection improvement project would improve the intersection’s capacity and safety, as well as the safety of pedestrians crossing the intersection. The project could include the addition of left-turn lanes on Lake Street for motorists turning onto Central Avenue. Documents for the project stated, “Planning, design, and construction of this project is a vital third phase of east side roadway improvements to improve traffic congestion and safety after the East William Street widening and Point projects.”

As for the preservation of East Central Avenue, the project would reconstruct the existing pavement east of Lake Street to The Point. According to city documents for the project, the width of the roadway would remain approximately the same while rebuilding the pavement and adding complete street elements to preserve the existing roadway footprint.

The conceptual-level project estimates for the intersection improvements and East Central Avenue preservation are $9.7 million and $6.8 million, respectively.

As noted by the city, the exact scope of each project would be determined during the design phase following the Ohio Department of Transportation’s required plan development process. The concepts included as part of the application process are to be considered as just one possibility and were prepared to establish cost estimates for the funding application.

Should the federal attributable funds be secured through MORPC, the city could still pursue additional federal or state funds for various phases of the project, as well as funding through a host of organizations at the local and state level. At this time, the city has not committed any funding to the projects beyond the professional engineering services solicited to prepare the applications.

If the funding applications are successful and the city opts to advance the projects, funding sources for all phases of the projects would be identified through the city’s Capital Improvement Plan.

Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on Twitter @DillonDavis56.