Education Edition - 1736 Magazine, Fall 2019

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SALES TAX-FUNDED STREET PROJECTS PROGRESSING Some work won’t be started until 2022 By SUSAN McCORD Several downtown Augusta streetscape projects wait their turn while the Transportation Investment Act sales tax has funded some $11.6 million in other transportation projects in and around downtown. Since the 1% tax went into effect in 2012, collections have paid to repair and restore four bridges over the Augusta Canal where the canal meanders into downtown Augusta. Bridges at Seventh, 11th and 15th streets as well as two on Broad Street received a combined $3.3 million in upgrades, according to state records. A more inviting gateway into downtown Augusta would be constructed at 13th Street under the proposed streetscape plan city officials have discussed for transportation sales tax funding. [SPECIAL] 74 | 1736magazine.com 1117_T_74_AM____.indd 74 10/25/2019 12:46:10 PM
LEFT: Projects in “Band 2” of the sales tax-funded transportation improvements in downtown Augusta include a $9.1 million repair and restoration of the Fifth Street bridge over the Savannah River, which could be converted to a pedestrianonly bridge. [JOE HOTCHKISS/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE] The priciest project completed so far is the $8.3 million reconstruction of John C. Calhoun Expressway, which funnels commuters in and out of downtown at 13th and 15th streets. Under construction now with about a year to go is a $5 million upgrade to 15th Street, to include medians, repaving and improved access by people with disabilities between Calhoun and Central Avenue. “We put the emphasis on the street portion first,” said John Ussery, the city’s traffic engineer. “We wanted to finish the roadway first so we can lessen the impact on traffic.” Going in later is a new eight-foot multi-use path accessible by both pedestrians and bicyclists on the east side of 15th, he said. The 15th Street project is in the 10-year tax’s Band 2, meaning all projects must be under way by the end of 2019. Also in Band 2 are a $6.2 million reconstruction of James Brown Boulevard and a $9.1 million repair and restoration of the Fifth Street bridge over the Savannah River. City leaders have said the bridge likely will be converted to a pedestrian-only bridge. The downtown streetscape projects, which captured the public’s imagination during a series of 2016 input sessions, are in Band 3 of the tax and must be ready for construction by the end of 2022 when the tax expires. Ussery said the plan is to start with Telfair and 13th streets. On Telfair, $19 million is budgeted for resurfacing, curb and gutter, storm drainage and streetscape work between 15th Street and East Boundary. The same treatment for $3.1 million is planned for 13th between R.A. Dent Boulevard and Reynolds Street. “The current plan is to start with Telfair and 13th then proceed to the numbered streets then to Greene and Broad at the end of the process,” Ussery said. Fifth and Sixth streets were budgeted a combined $14 million for resurfacing, curb and gutter, storm drainage and streetscape work. The priciest project downtown is Broad, budgeted at $25 million that is not expected to cover the entirety of work between Washington and Sand Bar Ferry roads. A team assembling a project list for the next sales tax has included another $50 million to continue the curb and gutter, streetscape, storm drainage and resurfacing work on Broad. Ambitious plans to reshape downtown streets, such as depicted in this artist rendition of an improved Broad Street near the Augusta Common, are several years in the future. [SPECIAL] 1736magazine.com | 75 1117_T_74_AM____.indd 75 10/25/2019 12:46:05 PM
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Education Edition - 1736 Magazine, Fall 2019

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