$2.1M grant for Business Loop 70 improvement paused
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A $2.1 million dollar grant that was set to be used to improve Business Loop 70 in Columbia has been frozen.
Accordng to a release from the Loop Community Improvement District, the Federal Highway Administration told the group it can't allocate any of the funds from the grant and the project should be stopped.
The city of Columbia was awarded the federal grant last March as part of the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Grant program.
"This is the result of an Executive Order that required federal department heads to provide an assessment of all current grants and other funding with an eye towards cutting specific programs," a spokesperson for The Loop CID said in a release on Monday.
The grant would have been used for to conduct a study of Business Loop 70 between Stadium Boulevard and Eastland Circle to find ways to improve safety for motorized and non-motorized users, improving accessible multi-modal operations, providing aesthetics along the corridor and improving economic vitality along the roadway.
Columbia requested $2.5-3 million for the study, according to the application filed in 2023. In October the City Council approved $500,000 in funds from the capital improvement sales tax to be used for the study along with the federal grant.
The Loop CID said the group in partnership with Columbia officials are working with Missouri Department of Transportation to understand what could come next. The release states the Board of the Loop CID is prepared to reapply for another grant if possible.
"It’s unclear whether we can get the funds reobligated to our project or whether a new grant process will be introduced to reallocate these dollars to projects meeting new criteria," the release states.
ABC 17 News has reached out to the U.S. Department of Transportation for comment.
