The Georgia Department of Transportation has increased its funding award to the city of Statesboro for the Blue Mile streetscape project and drainage improvements to $1,193,000 or 70% of the total cost, whichever is less, the city government announced Thursday.
Total estimated cost of the project is $3.8 million, including other funding sources.
Back in 2017, the state transportation department, known as GDOT, committed up to $450,000 to Statesboro for city infrastructure projects along South Main Street, specifically the stretch from Tillman Road to Brannen Street. This is within the longer “Blue Mile” of South Main, which is also part of U.S. Highways 301 and 25, connecting the historic front entrance of Georgia Southern University to the Bulloch County Courthouse. The Blue Mile corridor is the target area for multiple redevelopment efforts funded by a foundation and a tax allocation district.
The city of Statesboro requested additional funding from GDOT at the beginning of June citing a change in the scope of the project. The original award had been only for upgrading storm drainage along South Main Street to address flooding problems.
Bus shelters, too
But the Blue Mile streetscape project, added with the increase in GDOT Local Maintenance & Improvement Grant funds, will include sidewalk widening, utility relocation, bus shelters for the city’s new transit program, enhanced driveway access points for vehicle entry that will provide safe crossing points for pedestrians, and landscaped pocket parks for pedestrians to pause along the Blue Mile, as well as drainage updates, said John Washington, director of the city’s Public Works and Engineering Department.
Construction on the streetscape project is slated to start in early 2021.
“This additional funding will allow us to move the streetscape project forward,” Washington said in a city of Statesboro news release. “The Blue Mile is an integral part of Statesboro’s identity, and we are excited to finally be able to give it the revitalization and attention it deserves.”
The original drainage project was to be completed by July 1, 2020, but the city was unable to meet that deadline.
“The city had also been simultaneously working on a streetscape improvement project for the Blue Mile during this time,” Washington said. “To achieve the best results for both projects, it was proposed to combine the two projects into one. The total cost of the combined projects was in excess of GDOT’s original maintenance funding, thus requiring a request for grant funding.”
Other funding sources for the overall $3.8 million project budget include the local Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or T-SPLOST, and the city’s subscriber fee-supported Public Utilities Department. The city plans to hold public input sessions in the coming weeks to hear from residents and property owners regarding the proposed improvements for the Blue Mile.
“The Blue Mile streetscape project is part of the city’s ongoing partnership with the Blue Mile Foundation which strives to restore the corridor as a safe and desirable place to live with a vibrant commercial and artistic hub serving a nine-county region,” concluded the announcement provided by Layne Phillips, city public information officer.