This week ended the grant period for expending CDBG-R stimulus funds. The City of Champaign installed a total of 1300 lineal feet of sidewalk and 12 access sidewalk ramps on the north side of Paula Drive from Garden Hills Drive to Honeysuckle Lane. The total grant amount awarded to the City was for $204,000 of which a total of $180,117 was spent to construct the sidewalk. The construction was completed in two phases, one during the 2010 construction season and the other during the 2012 construction season. In both cases construction bid awards were lower than expected. This resulted in $23,882.75 of unexpended funds being returned to HUD. The number of jobs retained/created through this grant amounted to around three. The installation of the sidewalk was a neighborhood request as well as a goal of the Regional Planning Commission (RPC), City of Champaign, and Unit 4 Schools to complete a “safe route to school” for the Garden Hills School.