Ironton approved for feasibility study

The City of Ironton is in the beginning stages of what Mayor Rich Blankenship hopes will be the development of the city’s riverfront area.

The mayor found out recently that the city has been approved for federal funding of a feasibility study for a project that would fix the riverfront’s erosion problem.

The feasibility study, which will be done by the Army Corps of Engineers, has been 100 percent funded and the city will have to pay for 35 percent of the construction of the project.

The mayor has applied for the appropriations for the past three years and the city was finally approved this year, he said.

It’s good timing, too, because the city is hoping to develop the riverfront that stretches from the boat launch area to the mouth of Storms Creek for business and recreational areas.

The first step is to fix the area with erosion problems.

“(The river bank) is washing out underneath the boat ramps and the water plant,” Blankenship said. “If it continues, it’s going to create a major problem for the infrastructure in that area.”

While the city has used riprap — a rock barrier — to try to correct the problem, more work is needed, he said. The feasibility study is scheduled to begin in January.

In the meantime the mayor is applying for grants through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources NatureWorks program and Clean Ohio Fund for the further development of the riverfront.

The mayor hopes to put walking and bike paths in the area as well as an asphalt walking path on the earthen floodwall. The walking path would not damage the floodwall, he said.

“It can be done because it’s been done in other areas,” Blankenship said.

Besides recreational areas, the mayor hopes that part of the riverfront property will be developed for businesses.

The mayor said he is not sure of a timeline for when construction on the project might start.

“You just don’t go in and start building a sidewalk,” Blankenship said. “It’s not that simple.”

He is also not sure of what it might cost the city.

The mayor said he is looking for ways the city can use in-kind contributions like man-hours for its matches of the various grants.

“There are many phases to it,” he said. “We are moving forward and if we want to see improvements, these are the steps we have to go through.”