PANGBURN — The city of Pangburn is in line to get some new sidewalks.
The city received a $100,000 matching grant from the Arkansas Department of Transportation, formerly the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. Pangburn Mayor David Wilson said there are three areas of concern for sidewalks in the town, but the main one is on Main Street.
“It would essentially connect all of our businesses in towns with sidewalks, which we do not currently have,” he said.
Pangburn applied for the grant last summer.
“We got the call on Halloween to say we got it,” said Wilson, who was previously an alderman for the city before replacing former Mayor Todd Slayton, who resigned Jan. 3.
Wilson said that before anything is decided on what projects to pursue, the Pangburn City Council must meet with an engineer because the project will cost more than $50,000. Pangburn is contracted with Civil Engineering Associates LLC of Jonesboro. Engineer Trey Foster, who is based in Conway, will meet with the council Tuesday night.
“We’re basically going to have the engineer for the firm give us our price options and see what we can afford to do,” Wilson said about the project. “Nothing is concrete until we have this meeting.”
The grant is an 80-20 grant, which means the city must put in 20 percent of the costs, while the state will pay 80 percent.
“[Foster] is going to look at our budget with us,” Wilson said. “It’s in three parts. We could do the main part and spend that much money, or we could do all three parts.”
Wilson said the biggest need for sidewalks, of course, is on Main Street. There are spots where there are old sidewalks, but not a continuous one that runs in front of the grocery story, past City Hall to the Pangburn Medical Clinic at 304 Main St.
“The very top of Main Street, we have a medical clinic,” Wilson said. “There is not a sidewalk to it at all. You have to walk around the back streets or take a car or walk up the highway.”
Wilson said that since the grant was received, he has received calls about the possibility of new sidewalks.
“It’s going to be a brand-new sidewalk,” Wilson said. “The reason the grant is so good is that we have ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) standards now. We have to have the sidewalk handicapped-friendly. It will really have to be done up to par. It’s a big hill.
“We’re very excited about it. Anything that is going to make the city nicer is good. I’ve gotten a lot of people excited about the sidewalk project — people coming to me, asking about it.”
Staff writer Mark Buffalo can be reached at (501) 399-3676 or mbuffalo@arkansasonline.com.