Bikes, paving in Kannapolis part of stimulus

Chris Fisher prepares to ride one of the 10 new bikes that the Kannapolis Police Department bought with federal stimulus funds. Photo by Emily Ford

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Chris Fisher has been a certified bicycle officer for a year and a half with the Kannapolis Police Department. Photo by Emily Ford

Officer Chris Fisher adjusts the saddles bags on a new bike purchased by the Kannapolis Police Department with federal stimulus money. Photo by Emily Ford

Officer Chris Fisher rides one of the 10 new bikes that the Kannapolis Police Department bought with federal stimulus funds. Photo by Emily Ford

The Kannapolis Police Department purchased 10 new bicycles with federal stimulus money and now has 15 bikes. Photo by Emily Ford

Kannapolis Police Department bought 10 bicycles from the Right Gear bike shop with federal stimulus money. Photo by Emily Ford

Chris Fisher has been a certified bicycle officer for a year and a half with the Kannapolis Police Department. Photo by Emily Ford

By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — From police bicycles to traffic signals to road paving, Kannapolis so far has snagged $2.4 million in federal stimulus funding, with more on the way.

"All in all, we're pleased," City Manager Mike Legg said. "Our staff worked hard and put in a lot of time, especially our public works director."

The N.C. Department of Transportation awarded many of the discretionary dollars that Kannapolis received.

"They were looking for projects that were shovel-ready, that was the key to all this," Legg said. "With the North Carolina Research Campus, we were fortunate to have already spent a lot of money upfront on all these projects, and DOT found a couple that they could get behind."

The city has spent about $4.04 million on infrastructure improvements at the Research Campus, a life sciences hub in downtown Kannapolis.

Completing preliminary work like design and environmental impact studies paid off, Legg said.

"That's a credit to our staff and being proactive," he said.

Kannapolis will receive more than $2.4 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, plus a $218,333 low-interest loan that could qualify for 50 percent forgiveness.

Kannapolis also will see a portion of the $545 million awarded to North Carolina as part of a high-speed rail corridor from Charlotte to Washington.

The NCDOT Rail Division plans to restore a second railroad track along a 10-mile stretch from south of Salisbury to North Kannapolis, allowing trains to pass one another at 79 mph.

Kannapolis straddles the line between Rowan and Cabarrus counties. Most of the 40,000 citizens live in Cabarrus County.

Overall, Cabarrus County will receive more than $77 million in stimulus funding for energy conservation, transportation, public safety and school projects, according to Rep. Larry Kissell's office.

With additional human services grants and an increase in unemployment benefits, Cabarrus County's total climbs to $131.8 million, according to the Web site www.ncrecovery.gov.

The largest single stimulus amount pledged to Kannapolis is $1.2 million for stormwater improvements at the Research Campus and a pedestrian tunnel at Village Park.

The city will pay the balance of the project, about $1.3 million.

"Moving that forward is a tremendous help," said Wilmer Melton, the city's public works director. "We needed the connectivity with the campus, and it's certainly a great public benefit."

The city applied for funding for more than a dozen water and sewer projects but only received the low-interest loan for improvements to the Second Creek water pumping station.

"If there was a disappointment, that was the one," Legg said.

The Kannapolis Police Department already has 23 new mobile digital radios and 10 new bicycles, purchased with stimulus funds.

The radios cost $3,800 each.

"We were just elated," said Chief Woody Chavis, who is preparing for a mandated switch to digital communications. "That's a substantial expense for us."

The department needs 200 more radios and walkie talkies and will pursue additional grant funding, Chavis said.

The police bikes cost $1,000 each and were purchased at the Right Gear, a Kannapolis bike shop.

"The public absolutely loves it," said Officer Chris Fisher, who's been a certified bike cop for a year and half. "Their response has blown me away."

The department now has 15 bikes, which officers ride during special events like the Kannapolis Cruise-In and directed patrols in troubled neighborhoods.

"It increases their interaction with the citizens," Chavis said.

The impact of stimulus dollars on the local economy will vary, Legg said.

"Clearly, the various construction projects will put engineers and contractors to work," he said in an e-mail.

Beyond construction jobs, some projects will offer additional, broader economic benefits, he said.

The city received $103,268 to help extend Wood Avenue, which will allow more people to build homes in the Carver community, Legg said, "which obviously creates jobs."

The new stormwater line will open about half of the 350-acre Research Campus for new development, which eventually will mean jobs, he said.

And the high-speed rail project will create construction jobs short-term, "but more importantly it will create major passenger and freight capacity that will have a significant regional, statewide and national economic impact," Legg said.

The city was required to estimate job creation and retention numbers for two stimulus grants.

The Wood Avenue extension project, part of a Community Development Block Grant-Recovery, should create or retain 11 construction and engineering jobs.

The replacement of a water treatment plant pump, funded by a $170,300 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, should retain three jobs, the city estimated.

"In reality, there is no tangible way to measure this on the front end, and there is no requirement that I am aware of to document these jobs on the back end," Legg said. "But less specifically, there is no doubt that construction projects like these had an impact on companies slowing layoffs and retaining employees."

Work will begin soon on stimulus-funded projects in Kannapolis.

Design is complete on the Wood Avenue extension, and the city continues right-of-way acquisition. Construction could start in 60 days, Legg said.

Resurfacing of 12.8 miles of roads throughout Cabarrus County will start in mid-April, including 2.5 miles of Lane Street from Interstate 85 to U.S. 29, and 150 feet of ramps at the interstate.

The other section of Lane Street from I-85 to Old Salisbury-Concord Road also will be resurfaced as part of the $2.5 million stimulus project.

The city has asked NCDOT to delay work on the stormwater and pedestrian tunnel project until after the summer concert series, which draws thousands of people to Village Park.

Without the delay, construction would start in June, just as the concert series begins. "DOT is under pressure to spend this money, but we are waiting to hear back from them," Legg said.

If the work goes on, it would just about wipe out the concert series.

A $500,000 project to install four new traffic signals and mast arms in downtown Kannapolis is on hold. NCDOT "has a cash flow issue," Legg said, and will depend on other projects coming in under budget to find money for new signals at four intersections:

- North Loop Road and Main Street

- Ridge Avenue and First Street

- Laureate Way and Main Street

- First Street and Main Street

Design has begun on a new platform canopy at the Kannapolis Train Station, paid for by $334,715 in stimulus funding as part of the $545 million high-speed rail package.

Construction should begin in about six months, Legg said.