‘Streetscape’ rips through downtown

Strolling through downtown Milledgeville, one may notice the banners hanging from the streetlights that read, “Enjoy Historic Milledgeville;” as the stroll continues, one may stare out across what seems to be endless construction and realize that this is becoming increasingly difficult.

The drilling, the make-shift wooden walkways, the mud, bulldozers and inaccessible streets–at times, Milledgeville appears less like an antebellum town of Southern culture and more like a war-torn country.

The people of Milledgeville are patient, realizing progress takes time, but it is only natural for them to ask: What exactly are they doing, and when will everything be back to normal?

Students attending Georgia College & State University are no strangers to this constant, inconvenient “progress.”

Carey Hall, a junior at GC&SU, also works downtown at Puebla’s Mexican Restaurant. For her and many others, there is no escaping construction.

“It’s aggravating having to go from school where there’s a lot of construction to work where there’s even more construction,” said Hall. “Business has even slowed down.”

All of this chaos does have a purpose, however, and it is called Streetscape, a grand venture to say the least.

Streetscape is not a plan suddenly conjured up; its was actually introduced in 2000 when Milledgeville Main Street, GC&SU, GMC, the City of Milledgeville, Baldwin Co., and Forward Baldwin, a volunteer organization, all joined together to develop a master plan, one that implemented four phases of development.

Perhaps the most discouraging detail of all concerning downtown construction is the fact that Phase I has not even begun yet.

“This construction is in preparation of Streetscape, which hasn’t even started,” said Heather Holder, chair of Milledgeville Main Street, the downtown development authority. “You have to apply for funding; then you have to prove you can do something with it. That’s why we’re doing this in phases, and for now, we have funding for Phase I only.”

Holder also added that completion of Phase I, which will encompass the area from Liberty St. to the Jefferson St. side of GMC, will take at least nine months, but that it really depends on the weather.

In 2001, the Department of Transportation provided the project with a Transportation Enhancement Act grant of $800,000 for Phase I.

The city later provided $200,000, a sum that further increased thanks to money received from the Special Purpose Local Operations Sales Tax, or SPLOST.

Streetscape finally broke ground in 2004 after gaining necessary engineering approvals, environmental clearances and state reviews.

Milledgeville is said to benefit impressively from the Streetscape project.

There will be new cross-walks, new brick-accented sidewalks, a three-lane driving section, more on-street parking and pedestrian refuge islands. New streetlights, known as “period” lights will match the 18th Century models found on the GC&SU campus. In fact, one of the primary goals for the downtown renovation is to integrate the city atmosphere with that of the college.

“There will be a seamless design between downtown and the campus,” said Holder. “It will be all part of the same emotion and experience.”

Phase I of Streetscape is further broken down into four stages. During Stage I, there will be construction of a new curb and gutter, new storm sewer, fire hydrants, an 8-inch water main and a new irrigation system. Stage II will begin on the other side of Hancock, the side where the school sits. Stage III will take place on both sides, provide new asphalt paving and more concrete islands, and Stage IV will basically consist of any finishing touches.

Holder also said there will be benches, trash receptacles and white lights that provide more radiance for a safer downtown.

Frank Stevens works in City Hall as head of Computer Operations for Water; he is also chief inspector for Streetscape and the representative of the city for this venture. Any questions and complaints come to him.

Stevens, originally from Massachusetts, said when he came to Milledgeville he could see the city’s potential.

“We’re going to re-pave, re-sidewalk and install new water lines,” said Stevens. “Basically, we are going to enhance the downtown area. The reason: we want to get new merchants here. This is something the city really needed. My wish is that something like this will draw more attention to Central Georgia.”

Though obvious frustrations exist, the merchants of downtown Milledgeville are patiently staying positive.

Celes Mason, assistant at the Milledgeville Visitor’s Center located at the point of Hancock St. where construction is heaviest, said the construction can be annoying, but that it is not necessarily disrupting business.

“People are having to use the back-door, but we just have to accommodate,” said Mason. “Believe it or not, we had 13 more [than usual] for our trolley tour this morning. In the long run, this is definitely going to help with the tour. The workers have been very good about coming in and letting us know what’s going on. We just ask the visitors to come in the back entrance so they don’t have to look at the front!”

Holder said the city cannot ask a business to shut down because of street renovations; adequate entrances must be provided, and everything has to be done to make sure business is not disrupted.

“I hope it doesn’t affect business, and I don’t think it will,” said Stevens. “When I talked to merchants, they were apprehensive, but, they’re going to go along with us. You’re always going to get negative feedback from the businesses. They can’t see anything happening. Soon, it will hit them that this is what happens before you look good.”

“It’s really not that bad yet, but I know it’s going to be bad,” said Charles Cruey, owner of downtown Milledgeville’s Buffington’s. “You have to look at the bigger picture. Yeah, I’m planning on less business in November, but the streets are going to look great. Overall, I’m not happy, but the construction’s not going to be here forever.”

“It’s our responsibility to prepare everybody. There will be periods of disruption,” said Holder. “It will not be pretty, but after it’s done and the dust settles, we are going to have a seamless vibrant downtown everybody can be proud of.”

Holder added that if anyone had any questions, feel free to contact City Hall.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 12 2004. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry