Main Street Construction Begins

After months of lead up, planning, discussion, and preparation the long-anticipated Main Street  project got underway officially on Monday, as crews began taking up concrete on the west side of the street.  The project will involve the replacement/addition of curb and gutter along both sides of the street, new sewer and water line hookups, and other improvements to both the look and infrastructure of the downtown area.  Many of the services have not been replaced in decades, and this project should bring an efficient, unified, and coherent undergirding to the steet.

The project of course is not without its costs.  Businesses are obliged to pay for the hookups from the main line into their places of business, which has caused some concern among those along the street.  While the businesses themselves will not have to be closed during the construction (outside of a few predicted limited times when services will briefly interrupted), the confusion resulting from parking and access issues is certain to depress foot traffic, at the very least.  The city and the Chamber of Commerce are encouraging people to make sure they patronize the downtown shops as much as possible to help mitigate the disruption, and individual retailers and businesses should know ahead of time when they should expect closures.  

Parking is encouraged around the city park area, though drivers should be aware that the construction vehicles will be staging in the area as well, and caution is advised.

During its most recent meeting, City Council stressed the need for pedestrians, and especially kids, to use caution in the construction area.  Discussions about what kind of safety precautions to put in place were underway, and likely to be calibrated at Wednesday’s meeting, which should include an update on progress and a revised schedule for completion.  So far, the construction plan has not hit any major snags, and should proceed as planned for the balance of the summer. 

The construction was delayed until after the 4th of July holiday in order to allow the annual event to proceed in the same manner as usual.  According to city officials, the plan is to minimize the need for water and sewer disruptions, and to work as quickly as possible on each individual location.  Concerns can be addressed to the City Council during public input sessions at the biweekly meetings, or by calling the office.