Streetscape Committee receives letter to proceed

A letter from Paul A. Mattox, Jr., West Virginia State Secretary of Transportation and Commissioner of Highways, has been received by the Bath Streetscape Committee allowing the committee to proceed with their plans in regard to the $200,000 Transportation Enhancement Program grant.

The committee plans include installing sidewalks, curbs, gutters and lighting along Wilkes Street between Fairfax Street and Route 9 west and on Independence and Congress Streets between Wilkes and Washington streets.

The next step for the Streetscape Committee is to get approval from the state to put out the job for bids. This involves sending a copy of the Request for Proposal (RFP), a legal advertisement that will run in local newspapers and a list of potential bidders to Harold Simmons, the state's Project Manager for Program Planning and Administration, for approval.

Once approval is received from Simmons, the RFP will be sent out to the list of bidders and any contractor who responds to the legal advertisement. The RFP is for the initial design phase of the Streetscape project.



"We want the design for Wilkes, Congress and Independence streets to be a roadmap for the other 40 blocks in town," Sally Marshall said. Once the design phase for the $200,000 grant is underway, the committee will submit a grant request to the state for an additional $500,000 to be awarded next year.

Additionally, the committee is completing an application for a grant from the Governor's Community Partnership Program to do a parking study in town.