The city of Moscow will apply for a grant to help fund the construction of a pedestrian underpass at South Main Street/U.S. Highway 95 to improve the flow and safety of pedestrians using Paradise Path.

The underpass would be similar to the one recently-installed at the intersection of Styner and White avenues and State Highway 8 in Moscow.

Bill Belknap, Moscow deputy city supervisor of community planning and design, told the Moscow City Council Public Works/Finance Committee Monday that pedestrians using Paradise Path use the busy South Main Street-Sweet Avenue intersection to cross the street before reentering the pathway, which can be unsafe.

The proposal is to install a path under the South Main Street bridge located between the south couplet intersection and Sweet Avenue, and connect it to Paradise Path, which picks up behind the brick University of Idaho entrance sign at the corner of Sweet Avenue and South Main Street. The proposed path would allow pedestrians using Paradise Path to avoid interacting with vehicle traffic and pedestrian traffic at the South Main Street-Sweet Avenue intersection.

“This would really help smooth and improve the flow on the pathway system,” Belknap said.

The design and construction of the underpass is estimated to cost a little more than $1 million.

The city will apply this week for the Transportation Alternatives Program grant, asking for $499,643 from the state for the federal funding, and the city and Moscow Urban Renewal Agency would likely split the remaining $506,687 for the project if the grant application, which is due Sunday, is approved. The project would be constructed in 2023.

Similar to the Highway 8 underpass, Belknap said the proposed underpass is expected to be flooded about four days per year.

Besides installing the underpass, Belknap said the project would likely include removing the old Highway 95 bridge, which is located on the west side of South Main Street between the south couplet and Sweet Avenue, and installing a sidewalk. The new sidewalk would run on the west side of South Main Street from the South Main Street-Sweet Avenue intersection to the south couplet intersection and then continue west to connect to the existing sidewalk near the Gritman Medical Center gravel parking lot.

Belknap said the old bridge does not provide a functional purpose.

When the south couplet was constructed in 1997, the Idaho Transportation Department anticipated removing the bridge but the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office determined the bridge may be considered historic, so ITD did not remove the structure.

The ISHPO recently issued a letter stating the bridge is no longer eligible for the National Register of Historic Places because of the level of deterioration. Belknap said he believes portions of the bridge’s guardrails can be salvaged and repurposed into a historic interpretative station along Paradise Path.

The city council will likely approve the submittal of the grant application at its meeting Monday since the item was placed on the meeting’s consent agenda.

In other business, the city was a recipient of $295,200 in Federal Emergency Management Agency funding to assess Paradise Creek - from Darby Road just north of Mountain View Park to the Highway 8 underpass — and explore and select flood hazard mitigation alternatives.

The total estimated cost of the study is $393,600, which would require a local match of $98,400 — a portion of which has been paid, Belknap said.

The council will consider approving the agreement with FEMA at Monday’s council meeting.

Garrett Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.