IRON MOUNTAIN — Plans are in place to file an application in June for a Safe Routes to School project that would improve about a mile of sidewalks in Iron Mountain.

The Safe Routes to School program offers a 100% grant for infrastructure, but the city would need to cover engineering costs, estimated at up to $225,000. The project would improve sidewalks and community areas around the high school campus and Hughitt Street, as well as Fifth Street leading to North Elementary School.

Kevin Trevillian, a Coleman Engineering project manager, told the city council Monday that the work would likely be in 2028 with about $900,000 spent on construction in the downtown campus area and $200,000 on Fifth Street.

“We will be coming back for a resolution of support,” he said.

Trevillian joined school representatives Jerry Sardina, superintendent, and Maria Langsford, communications coordinator, to explain the project.

Sardina said that with the growth of the Imagination Factory Community Center on the 300 block of West Hughitt Street “we’re going to see an uptick in traffic.” The school district’s planning for a project began two years ago, he said.

Pedestrian safety is a primary goal, Langsford said, noting that parking spaces that extend over sidewalks is among the problems to be corrected.

The improvements along Fifth Street will add to work undertaken in that area more than 15 years ago, according to City Manager Jordan Stanchina.

Council member Pam Maule asked if the road around North Elementary could be addressed as well. It was investigated, Sardina said, but didn’t meet the grant criteria.

SRTS is a federal program intended to make it safe, convenient, and fun for children, including those with disabilities, to bicycle and walk to school. Applications are submitted through the Michigan Department of Transportation Grant System.

In Kingsford, an SRTS project that began in 2019 improved sidewalks and pathways mainly on Pyle Drive and Hooper and Balsam streets. Funding from MDOT for that work totaled nearly $500,000.

In other action, the city council:

— Approved additional handicap parking spaces as requested by Jeff Solka, director of police and fire services. The list includes three spaces on the west side of Prospect Street to start with the first space 20 feet south of Hughitt Street near the Imagination Factory Community Center. Currently, there are no handicap parking spaces designated for the center, Solka said. Also approved was a space nearest to the alley on the north side of East Brown Street for entrance into 200 S. Stephenson Ave., and a space nearest to the alley on the north side of East Hughitt Street for entrance into 333 S. Stephenson Ave.

— Approved parking lot and street closures for this year’s Downtown Development Authority events. They include the Out to Lunch concert series from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each Thursday from June 11 through Aug. 13; the new Summer Roll Out from 7 a.m. Thursday, June 18, to 11 a.m. Sunday, June 21; Italian Fest from 7 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, to 11 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 9; Oktoberfest from 7 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, to 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 27; Pumpkin Walk from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24; Christmas Walk from 2 to 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4; and the Farmers & Artisans Market from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each Saturday from June 6 through Oct. 10. Also approved were partial intersection and other closures related to the 2026 Run Iron Mountain, which will coincide with Oktoberfest on Saturday, Sept. 26.

— Noted that leaf and brush collections will begin Monday, April 27, in the southeast part of the city and will continue to move clockwise through other zones. Residents are reminded to separate leaves from sticks and branches, as the vacuum used for leaf collection doesn’t function if they are mixed. All materials set out for collection should be placed on the boulevard and not in the street.

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Jim Anderson can be reached at 906-774-2772 ext. 85226 or janderson@ironmountaindailynews.com.