Downtown sidewalk improvements to improve accessibility

Work starts this week on improvements to sidewalks in the downtown Square area to improve accessibility. Projects include street segments that currently do not have sidewalks or segments that do not meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

Sidewalk improvements on Rock Street that start this week include improvements to the intersection at Seventh Street with new ramps, crosswalks, and a new section of sidewalk on Seventh Street west of Rock Street. The Rock Street work also includes sidewalks and parallel parking places on the east side of the street from Seventh Street to one half block south of Eighth Street. This work should be completed in August.

Other work starting this week includes sidewalk accessibility improvements on Eighth Street just east of Martin Luther King Jr. Street and on Eighth Street at the alley between Main and Church streets. These two improvements should be competed in June.

In the month of July, the ADA ramps on Austin Avenue corners at the north side of the Seventh Street intersection and at the corners on the south side of the Eighth Street intersection will be improved.

Sidewalk improvements on the north and south sides of Seventh Street from Main to Church streets are scheduled to start in June and be completed in September. This segment includes new ADA-accessible sidewalks, ramps, crosswalks, drainage improvements, pedestrian railings, and a retaining wall.

The project schedule could change due to weather conditions and other factors.

The project cost is $964,975 funded by revenues from the 2015 Transportation Bond. The contractor is Choice Builders.