A road project in Washington planned for nearly two decades is well underway.
After the $6.6 million Freedom Parkway extension project is completed around the middle of next year, with the east-west road connecting McCluggage Road and North Cummings Lane, drivers will benefit and the city hopes the road will drive economic development.
"There's around 75 acres of undeveloped land along the Freedom Parkway extension," said Jon Oliphant, the city's planning and development director.
"With water and sewer already installed, the completion of the road is the last step to make that land shovel ready. We haven't had a lot of serious inquiries yet from prospective developers. People have been just kicking the tires. After the road is completed and people see it, I think we'll get some serious interest.
"Completing Freedom Parkway has been one of our highest priority capital projects for a long time."
A combination of $2.1 million in federal grant money for a portion of the project and city reserves will pay for the extension work that began in July.
After the city was not selected for a grant for the remainder of the project, the city council decided to combine the two parts and use reserves to complete the project.
The first part of Freedom Parkway opened in 2005 in conjunction with the Walmart Supercenter at 1980 Freedom Parkway. Next door to Walmart is Menards at 1975 Freedom Parkway.
Those busy stores, which anchor Freedom Parkway on its western edge, and other nearby retail establishments and restaurants make for a well-used intersection at Freedom Parkway and McCluggage.
"That intersection can be a little bit a of a pain sometimes," said city engineer Dennis Carr. "When Freedom Parkway is completed, drivers can get to and leave the area around Walmart and Menards using North Cummings. There won't be just one access and egress point."
There already is economic development activity along North Cummings near what will be the Freedom Parkway intersection, although it isn't related to the Freedom Parkway extension project.
Culver's is building a restaurant at the former location of Core & Main. A tentative opening is planned for spring 2024.
Monical's Pizza, which has had a Cherry Tree Shopping Center location in Washington for nearly 40 years, is planning to build a second restaurant a few blocks away from its current spot at North Cummings and Stoneway Drive.
The company hopes construction can be completed and the restaurant will be open before Monical's lease at Cherry Tree expires in 2026. The new Monical's will have a pickup window and a larger seating capacity than the current location.
The 1.6-acre site identified by Monical's for its new restaurant has an average daily traffic count of nearly 8,000 vehicles, with nearby access to U.S. Route 24 and Business Route 24.
