Hoping to improve pedestrian access along Elm Street/Alabama 99, over Swan Creek and eventually up to the Sportsplex in Athens, the city has agreed to apply for a $697,400 grant for a sidewalk and pedestrian bridge project.

The Athens City Council voted unanimously Monday to seek the grant from the Alabama Department of Transportation’s Transportation Alternative Program. If the TAP grant application is approved by ALDOT, the city would have to pay a 20% match, or $174,350, to get the $679,400, records show.

The proposed sidewalk on the south side of Elm Street/Alabama 99 would extend from Garrett Drive to the intersection of U.S. 31, travel across Swan Creek via a pedestrian bridge and end right in front of the Sportsplex, said Athens Public Works Director James Rich.

“It would give us pedestrian access across Swan Creek,” Rich told council members. “I don’t know if you all have noticed, but there are a lot of pedestrians who walk from the apartments down to the convenience store on the corner. This would also eventually tie in access to the Sportsplex.”

Rich said the city has applied for several TAP grants in recent years.

“We have a sidewalk project going on right now on Pryor Street using a TAP grant. It goes from Athens College down Pryor Street to U.S. 31, and from 31 north to an apartment complex across from the new Bible school,” he said.