Streetscape project enters phase two; council hears paving schedule, remediation funding

Travis, a municipal department staff member, told the Georgetown council the downtown streetscape and visitor center project is moving into phase two and crews will perform the base layer of paving "Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights." He said signage would move by Friday and a new detour would begin Monday allowing access from State Street to Pleasant and then onto Grant, which will reopen for the second phase while Cherry and portions of Apple/Main will be closed.

The project team is "on pace" but Travis cautioned that the post and mast arm for a traffic signal have long lead times and "can be placed last minute" and could threaten the project’s October 1 deadline. He also said the city needs additional monitoring wells for remediation of an underground tank; the land bank provided documentation to cover up to $100,000 toward Buster’s remediation costs.

Why it matters: the streetscape work affects downtown access, parking and small businesses during the two-phase construction, and long lead times for signal equipment could delay opening dates. The council heard that state-level reviewers from the Governor’s Office of Appalachia visited and were "pleased" with progress, a point the presenter used to underscore momentum on the project.

In addition to paving and remediation, Travis reported damage to a park walkway caused by a concrete truck and said repairs will be completed before pouring final concrete so the new walkway will be flush. He also said the department is interviewing candidates for a street-worker position and expects to select someone by the end of next week.

Quote highlights: "we are on pace um to make the transition to phase two. They'll be doing some paving next week," Travis said, and later noted that the land bank will "cover that up to to 100,000 at this point to cover that buster uh the buster costs and remediation." The council did not take a vote on project spending during the meeting.

Next steps: the contractor plans three nights of base-layer paving next week and to move detour signage by Friday; the detour and phase-two traffic pattern are expected to begin Monday. Staff will continue to monitor the signal equipment timeline and move forward with required monitoring wells and remediation steps as funding and procurement allow.