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Staunton closes Wharf parking area after structural concerns in downtown stormwater tunnels
Summary
City officials say a consultant’s tunnel survey found enough concern to close portions of Byers Street and restrict vehicle access to parts of the Wharf parking lot while engineers continue structural evaluations. Officials said pedestrian access on the eastern Wharf remains open and the farmers market will operate in the western lot in April.
Staunton City Manager Leslie Beauregard said the city closed parts of Byers Street and restricted vehicular access to segments of the Wharf parking lot after an engineering team identified areas of concern during a tunnel structural evaluation. The work session update to the Staunton City Council on March 13, 2025, described immediate closures as “an abundance of caution” while Wiley|Wilson continues inspections.
The move matters because those buried streams and downstream tunnel systems run beneath downtown and reach capacity during heavy storms; the system’s condition is tied to a series of downtown flood events and to recent public-safety and access decisions. "We are concerned enough to close down portions of Byers Street," Beauregard said, and the city has altered vehicle flows and created a secondary entrance to the western Wharf lot to preserve some capacity for parking and the farmers market.
Beaur…
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