Following a unanimous thumbs-up from the Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Monday, the city's beloved parks are on the fast track to some much-needed infrastructure facelifts. Cameron Brown Park and the Bob Hailey Athletic Complex, local hotspots for family outings and sports events, are slated for a major parking and accessibility overhaul, aimed at curbing the current scramble for parking spaces that has long been a thorn in the side for frequent park-goers, as per the City of Germantown.
Playing the role of the city's knight in shining armor, engineering firm Kimley-Horn has been tapped to lay down a plan that promises to smooth over the rough edges in the parks' parking and traffic situation. The design costs, which are plotted not to exceed $167,900, have been signed, sealed, and delivered by an optimistic BMA as part of the bigger picture sketched out in the 2018 Parks and Recreation Master Plan—an initiative focused on addressing the smorgasbord of parking lot overflow and narrow travel lanes that tend to test visitors' patience during peak hours. A foray in May into the current state of affairs displayed the makeshift creation of 112 illegal parking spots by desperate drivers—a telltale sign that the upgrade can't come soon enough.
The detail-centric contract with Kimley-Horn covers an array of engineering services from topographic surveys to geotechnical exploration, right down to the nuts and bolts of construction plans, cost estimates, and the overseeing of construction administration. This grand scheme is not just about adding lines to a blueprint; it's a commitment to reshaping the parks' layout to accommodate its ever-swelling stream of users without compromising on safety and space.
