River Street vision plan gifted to city; council approves MOA agendaing for June

The Savannah Waterfront Community Improvement District presented a River Street Vision Plan it gifted to the city and asked council to authorize a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for initial infrastructure work.

Julie Muscleman, executive director of the waterfront CID, said the plan bundles community input and prior studies into a single implementation roadmap designed to improve pedestrian connectivity, ADA access and multimodal infrastructure on River Street. Staff noted an ongoing subsurface utility survey and design work for an end‑to‑end multimodal path.

Muscleman and staff proposed a first MOA to allow the CID to lead near‑term projects—lighting, ironwork and refuse enclosure upgrades—while the city advances design and utility work. "We are ready to bring this vision plan to council for adoption and also bring to you our first memorandum of understanding between the city and the CID for some projects that we can go on and start running with," Muscleman said.

Council members expressed support for adoption and implementation steps, flagged nighttime closures or intermittent street controls, and asked that SPD, fire and design teams be part of detailed plans. The council gave consensus to agendaize the vision plan and the MOA for the second June meeting.

Next steps: staff will place the River Street Vision Plan and the CID MOA on the June council agenda (second meeting) and continue coordination with transportation, utilities and public safety teams as design moves into procurement and construction phases.