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MARQUETTE -- McClellan Avenue in Marquette just may be getting a little longer.

It's a topic that's been in the news off and on for a few decades now--the McClellan Avenue Extension.
    
Monday, the Marquette City Commission agreed to buy the last piece of property the city needs to move ahead with the project, paying $13,000 for a piece of property a little less than 3,000 square feet.

"This is the last piece of the property that we needed...we have a great deal of grant funding in place for the road construction, so we're plotting ahead, and it's great to see.  It's been 30-plus years of waiting," said Marquette Mayor, John Kivela.

The city has about $860,000 set aside in Federal funding and just received $375,000 from M-DOT to pave the way for the McClellan Avenue Extension.

"It's very important for the city of Marquette that we do this.  And it's, again, the last piece of the puzzle, subject to the actual construction," offered City Commissioner, Frederick Stonehouse.

When all is said and done, McClellan Avenue will continue past the Peninsula Medical Center, all the way to Wright Street.

Mayor Kivela said there are some homeowners in the area who might be opposed to the project, but in terms of truck traffic heading north and south, the Extension makes the most sense for the city.

"There's a lot of homeowners in the city right now that are getting abused unnecessarily," Kivela said, "and this is a way of trying to manage the traffic so it's best for everybody."

The actual road work isn't expected until spring of 2011.