The city is ready to move ahead with long-awaited improvements to Old Morgantown Road, according to a municipal order up for a vote at city commissioners’ Tuesday evening meeting.

The order would let the city’s legal department begin negotiating to buy land – just easements, in some cases – for the road work. Current plans call for a slight realignment on some stretches of the road, two 12-foot lanes, and sidewalks, curbs and gutters on both sides, for a total width of 42 feet. A turn lane would be added at the road’s University Boulevard end, and some drainage improvements made, according to the final design from Cannon & Cannon engineers.

Sixty-eight property owners along the road will be affected, but the city already has verbal agreement from 17 of them, according to a memo from Public Works Director Emmett Wood.

It’s been a long road for residents and business owners in the Forest Park area, who have lobbied for upgrades for several years. An earlier plan came in with an $11 million price tag, so city staff went back to area residents and asked what they could cut. The final proposal came in at $3.9 million, money that was redirected from the canceled Shive Lane extension last year.

Road proposals

Another big road project is up for discussion at a nonvoting 4 p.m. commission work session. Two alternatives are proposed for reworking the congested intersection of Cave Mill and Smallhouse roads.

The recommended alternative would realign Smallhouse on the north side of Cave Mill to intersect directly with the southern portion of Smallhouse, add turn lanes on all approaches, make some drainage improvements, and abandon about 800 feet of the current road, according to a project description from Wood. It’s estimated to cost $2.83 million. The high price comes from the need to replace a parking lot, extend Beddington Way and provide an entrance to a new assisted-living development planned for the corner, Wood said.

The other alternative would cost only $830,000, but the traffic improvement gained would probably be lost within a few years, he said. The second alternative wouldn’t realign the road, but would add turn lanes on Smallhouse and one on Cave Mill.