The Carroll City Council is moving forward with one of the more cost-effective options for the road width on the estimated $5 million 12th Street reconstruction project, but the route they have chosen may limit on-street parking in some areas. Twelfth Street is currently 26 feet wide and features one-sided on-street parking. However, Public Works Director Randy Krauel says this layout no longer complies with the city’s “Complete Streets” policy or federal and state recommendations for arterial roads and must be widened.
Staff recommended the final 28’ option with on-street parking and full sidewalk replacement. Krauel notes that the city has experience securing design exceptions from the DOT, most recently on 18th Street, where on-street parking is allowed on one side of the 31’-wide road. Sidewalks in the project area are generally considered to be in good condition despite their age. However, Krauel says the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) becomes a factor when the city starts working on older infrastructure.
Existing ADA regulations require new sidewalks to have a running slope of no more than five percent and a cross slope below two percent. Ward 2 Councilman Jason Atherton questions the need to tear out and replace acceptable sidewalks when the city’s focus is on the road.
City Manager Aaron Kooiker says the city is bound by federal law, so if any work is done on sidewalks, all of them in the project area must be made compliant. Ward 3 Councilman Kyle Bauer says it would be challenging to force property owners to replace sidewalks at their expense.
According to Krauel, the approximately $800,000 in federal funding is at risk if they want to maintain on-street parking and don’t address the sidewalks. Widening the street beyond 28’ brings a separate challenge of fitting a paving machine through the corridor. Following a nearly hour-long discussion of the options, the council voted unanimously to proceed with design work for Option 1A, which will limit on-street parking on 12th Street but doesn’t put federal funding at risk. The city could amend its concept statement later to avoid delaying the project. Bid-letting is slated for December 2025, with construction tentatively scheduled for 2026.
