Jefferson City council awards contract for MSP Parkway design

The next step in the redevelopment of the Missouri State Penitentiary is now moving forward.

Monday, the Jefferson City Council awarded a $55,800 contract to Central Missouri Professional Services, Inc., to design the MSP Parkway.

The money will come out of the city’s half cent capital improvement sales tax.

The Parkway includes plans for the installation of a proposed roundabout on Chestnut Street northeast of Capitol Avenue.

The designers will also look at extending Lafayette Street around the former penitentiary to the roundabout, continuing to the Lewis and Clark building off Riviera Street.

The design of the MSP Parkway is laid out in five tasks or phases.

The first phase, project scoping, is set to start immediately.

“It opens up the door for prison redevelopment and that’s something that has been talked about for years,” Mayor Carrie Tergin said. “The prison’s been vacant now for 11 years, and there’s been a lot of talk about redevelopment. And there was a master plan developed with a lot of input, but part of that is a road, access road leading into the site.”

All phases of the parkway design are set to be completed by the end of February 2017.