Morgan City gets grant for Downtown-Young Memorial walking-bike route

Morgan City has received a grant that will that will help create a safe pedestrian and bicycle route between downtown and the South Louisiana Community College Young Memorial Campus, the city government said in a news release Wednesday

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has officially awarded the Safe Routes to Public Places grant, which was applied for in 2018, to the city of Morgan City. South Central Planning and Development Commission, with the help of St. Mary Excel, submitted the grant.

Three years later, the city of Morgan City can point to an entire planned, almost 17-mile bicycle/pedestrian trail. Mayor Lee Dragna, after hearing of the award, announced that the $350,000 awarded will be applied to phase one of the grant: making the route from Everett Street to Fourth Street to Barrow Street safe and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The next grant submitted by the city will focus on the part of the 17-mile trail from the Municipal Auditorium to Youngs Road via Myrtle Street. The final leg of the trail to SLCC is the most expensive, costing over $1 million. Other ways to finance this will also be investigated.

The city will begin work soon on the BIKE MORGAN CITY phase of the trail from Justa Street along the Auburn levee to La. 70. The city will use over $300,000 awarded through the Recreational Trails grants drafted by St. Mary Excel for the city in cooperation with the St. Mary Parish Levee District and the Cajun Coast Visitors and Convention Bureau, and $90,000 donated by the H & B Young Foundation.

The work being done to complete the BIKE MORGAN CITY pathway will reap benefits for the health and well-being of residents and visitors of the area, the press release said.