City Council to consider three options
COLUMBIA, Mo 5/30/13 (Announcement) -- A PUBLIC HEARING on the Providence Improvement Project is scheduled for Monday, June 3, at 7 pm in the City Council Chambers, downtown Columbia.A Resolution declaring the need for one of three options will be discussed by members of the public and the Council.A copy of the Resolution is here.The most expensive option, Option IX, has generated the most controversy. If approved, it will demolish two historic homes on Providence and cost $3.2 million. It is the first part of a two-phase plan rescinded by the Council in April.The Columbia Daily Tribune described Option IX (aka Phase 1) this way:
"Construction of a new road between Bingham and Burnam roads, the removal of a traffic signal at Providence and Rollins Street and the installation of traffic lights on Providence at Burnam and Turner Avenue. It also includes eliminating access to Providence from Bingham and creating a right-turn lane from Providence onto Stadium that would begin at Brandon. That phase would build over the sites of two houses along Providence and a vacant lot owned by John Ott, a local developer and a member of the Grasslands Neighborhood Association who has helped to push the project."
Option IX's so-called "evil twin" is a second phase that -- if approved -- will mandate demolition of 6 more homes on Providence. All eight homes in the path of bulldozers will be acquired by eminent domain should homeowners refuse to sell at prices satisfactory to city leaders. The total cost for Option IX's two phases approaches $7 million.
Two other options -- VIIIA and X -- will also be discussed.RELATED:
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