Second Street Corridor Phase Gets Green Light

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The first phase of beautifying a downtown Macon street gets the green light.

Macon City Council approved $1.4 million in design and construction contracts for the Second Street Corridor Project at its meeting Tuesday.

The agreements with design firm T.Y. Lin International and construction manager Chris Sheridan and Co. are just the first step of a project that, when complete, will connect Mercer University all the way over to the east side of Macon.

The SPLOST project will add plenty of landscaping and retail space and will also make the street pedestrian and bicycle friendly.

The phase approved Tuesday only pays for a preview block to show what the final project will look like.

“The voters approved about $8 million for the Second Street Corridor,” says councilman Rick Hutto.  “Part of that is the one block of Second Street between Poplar and Cherry Streets.  We’ve been talking for a long time about the vision, and now we’re finally going to get to see something.”

Mayor Robert Reichert says this step has been years in the making.

“We’ve been participating in public charettes and different designs and discussions, and these two contracts mark the official start of the final process,” says Reichert.

Both contracts passed with an 11-1 vote, with Virgil Watkins, Jr. voting against them.