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East Moline hoping to receive $4.9 million in federal funding to connect the Rust Belt to downtown

"This plan will get a connectivity for pedestrians, bicyclists, hopefully it will encourage vehicular traffic as well."

EAST MOLINE, Ill. — East Moline city officials are crossing their fingers the INVEST in America plan passes in the Senate after passing in the House of Representatives July 1st. If passed the city could receive $4.9 million dollars to help improve downtown.

The money would help connect the Rust Belt to the rest of downtown, as well as to The Bend and The Quarters. Iron and Grain Coffee House is located in the Rust Belt. The business has been there about 18 months.

Riley Bowman is a manager at the shop, and he says all of the businesses in the strip of stores called the Rust Belt are intertwined. Bowman saying, “There’s a lot of really great businesses around here. This building is super connected. I know most of the people in this building by name at this point.”

The Rust Belt and the heart of downtown are less than a mile apart, but without sidewalks or bike paths, it’s not very walker friendly. East Moline city administrator Doug Maxeiner says he hopes to change that with these funds saying, “It’s not easy to traverse that right now and so we want to make that easier and more interesting to do that.”

The plan would make it easier to get over the railroad tracks that split the two areas. It would also work to make the area more visibly appealing. Maxeiner saying, “Obviously we have some success in the Rust Belt and the Bend, some new investments down there. We have visitors come to the community, we want to attract those visitors to explore other parts of the city.”

Other changes include adding more amenities like space for outdoor dining, benches, trees and shady areas, flower pots, and much more. Maxeiner summing up the changes saying, “There will be pavers instead of just concrete sidewalk that jumps to a curb, parking on the street, you’d have some amenity zones, plantings, some tree areas.”

It’s an effort to connect businesses and create an environment worth exploring. Bowman saying, “I think the more relationships, the more connectivity we have down here the better.”

The city hopes these developments will draw not just residents from East Moline to the downtown area, but surrounding city and town residents as well.

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