By EDWARD HUSAR
Herald-Whig Staff Writer

The Quincy City Council tonight will be asked to support two grant applications totaling $456,138 for the "Safe Routes to School" program.

One grant for $250,000 would be used to install sidewalks on Maine Street between 30th and 36th, reduce the street from four lanes to three and reconfigure the intersection of 33th and Maine. The primary purpose of this is to improve safety for students walking to and from Baldwin Intermediate School at 30th and Maine.

Click here to see the proposal for the Baldwin Safe Routes.

Click here to see the proposal for the St. Dominic Safe Routes.

The other grant for $206,138 would be used to install sidewalks, curbs, a parking lane and other improvements along the south side of Columbus Road at St. Dominic School.

Both projects are intended to improve pedestrian safety for students who walk or bike to elementary schools. However, the Maine Street project would have the added benefit of improving safety for Quincy High School students, mainly because of the enhancements to the 33rd and Maine intersection near the entrance to the QHS parking lot.

Plans call for adding a south leg to that intersection so 33rd Street will lead directly into the QHS parking lot at a safer signalized crossing. This would allow two parking lot entrances on each side of the intersection to be closed as a safety improvement.

"We view those driveways as being a traffic hazard," said Chuck Bevelheimer, Quincy's director of planning and development.

The Quincy School District is working with the city in a cooperative venture to reconfigure the QHS parking lot so the main entrance will be better aligned with 33rd Street. At the same time, the district on its own is planning to add some more spaces and resurface the lot. Details of the parking lot changes are still being worked out, but the school district would finance those improvements.

The City Council tonight will be asked to commit $256,000 of the city's motor fuel tax funds for the Maine Street project, which is expected to total $506,000, with the grant paying the balance, assuming it's approved.

The city's share of the cost would be used primarily for right-of-way changes to Maine between 30th and 36th. Plans call for reducing the number of lanes on that stretch from four to three. The street would then have two bi-directional lanes plus a center turning lane.

Bevelheimer said going to a three-lane configuration would enhance safety because the center turning lane could then be used as a safe zone for students who invariably cross Maine Street at mid-block. Currently, students have to cross four lanes of busy traffic.

Bevelheimer said students aren't supposed to jay-walk in the middle of the block. "But kids being kids, we know that's going to happen," he said. "It's just unreasonable to assume that they're going to walk three blocks out of their way to cross at a signal."

One result of going to a three-lane configuration is that parking will no longer be allowed anywhere on Maine Street from 30th to 36th, including during Blue Devil basketball games at Blue Devil Gym in Baldwin School.

"That's a concern of all of us," Bevelheimer said. "From a public safety standpoint it's a nightmare. So we feel from a public safety standpoint this is the right thing to do. But we certainly understand the traditions of people parking on Maine Street (during games), and we're going to have to work through that."

Bevelheimer said this is one reason the School District wants to add more spaces in its parking lot -- so there will be more spots for the public, as well as students, once the changes on Maine Street go into effect.

Adding to the parking lot's capacity also will mean fewer students will have to park on the street in nearby neighborhoods. "That has been a bugaboo for both the schools and the city," Bevelheimer said.

If the grant money is awarded, as local officials hope, work on the two projects could begin in 2009. However, Bevelheimer said it's possible the Maine Street work conceivably could be pushed back to 2010 depending on timing.

-- ehusar@whig.com/221-3378