While it may be years before Gainesville's historic Green Street gets a full face lift, a concept for the revitalization has now been made public.
Members of the Gainesville City Council heard a presentation from consulting firm Pond & Company at a Thursday morning work session, two days after the plan was unveiled to the Technical Coordinating Committee of the Gainesville Hall Metropolitan Planning Organization (GHMPO).
The goal of the corridor study, according to Andrew Antweiler with Pond & Company, is to offer traffic and transportation improvements for the busy corridor, while at the same time, preserving the historic nature of the area. Green Street is lined with historic homes, which now house businesses for the most part. Left turns in and out of those businesses tangle traffic on a daily basis, during most hours of the day.
Antweiler told officials the company had identified a list of improvements that would make the corridor less crowded and easier to travel, including:
- Installation of a new storm drainage system and inlets
- Complete rebuilding of roadway pavement
- Replacing and upgrading aged underground infrastructure, including water and sewer lines
- Relocating overhead utilities to underground (power company and others)
- Adding pedestrian lighting
- Maintaining landscape character of the corridor, including the possible installation of a landscaped raised median down the half mile corridor
The concepts unveiled at the work session drew praise from city council members, who said the plan was way overdue.
"I love the concept," said Councilwoman Barbara Brooks. "I think it addresses all of the issues, all the concerns that we had. I'm just hopeful that we get the design and that all the stakeholders are happy with it."
"Most people recognize a need for change on Green Street," Councilman George Wangemann said. "The concept is wonderful...it's going to be safer, it's going to look better."
Gainesville Public Works Director Chris Rotalsky, who spoke with AccessWDUN after the GHMPO meeting on Tuesday, cautioned citizens not to anticipate changes any time in the near future.
"What we've completed...is a study that will lead us to develop different concepts that will then lead us into the design phase," Rotalsky said. "It's [the proposal] purely different concepts that can be applied to the corridor."
Part of the plan includes two roundabouts at each end of Green Street, projects that would be spearheaded by the Georgia Department of Transportation. In addition, GDOT is working on a companion project at Oak Tree Drive north of Green Street that would divert truck traffic off the corridor.
Rotalsky said with all the moving pieces to the plan - even with a concept now on paper - it could be three years or longer before any construction could begin.
To see the Power Point presentation from Pond & Company, follow this link to the City of Gainesville website. The information is found on pages 82-98 of the Gainesville City Council work session agenda.
