After years of preparation, a project to create walkways along the two new roads created as part of the Enzor Road Connector Project will finally begin in January.

The project was approved in 2015 for grant funding through the Federal Highway Administration’s Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP).

The project will provide for the construction of multi-use paths along the entirety of John H. Witherington Drive and Veterans Memorial Parkway.

Tim Ramsden, project engineer, said the multi-use path will be exactly like a portion of the multi-use path already constructed as part of the Park Place project that allowed for Publix.

“That was actually originally planned as part of this project, but we changed it so that it was included in the Park Place development,” Ramsden said.

The multi-use paths are intended to be used by both pedestrians and cyclists and are separated from the roadway.

The construction is planned to get underway on January 2.

The City of Troy has been successful with TAP grant projects recently.

The 2014 TAP project, which replaces several sidewalks in downtown Troy, is currently about two-thirds completed according to Ramsden.

The 2015 TAP grant isn’t going to downtown revitalization – it is being used to construct sidewalks along the new roads John H. Witherington Drive and Trojan Parkway. But the 2016 and 2017 grants are also incorporated into the downtown plan.

The 2016 grant will provide for a multi-use path from Troy University to the Square to provide an easy way for bikers and other pedestrians to reach the district from the campus without having to get in a vehicle.

The 2017 grant will come back to sidewalk replacement in the areas surrounding the Square and “image corridors” into the area.

The council recently approved an application for yet another TAP grant that would provide nearly $500,000 to the city on a $600,000 project to fund the construction of a multi-use path along Elm Street from College Street to George Wallace Drive.