Portions of downtown New Albany will receive a facelift this summer as part of the city’s Main Street Revitalization Project.
The project kicked off in 2014, when the city reworked several blocks on the eastern end of Main Street. Now, the final phase will bring similar changes to the stretch between State Street and East Fifth Street in downtown.
“The new phase promises to deliver a more attractive, better functioning, and all around more safe living experience for downtown businesses, residents, and shoppers,” Mayor Jeff Gahan said in a release. “We can’t wait to get it underway and we are hopeful it will be completed in Spring 2023.”
Work is expected to begin in June. Crews will replace sidewalks and pavement and install new benches, parking bays and greenspace along the corridor.
The additions will shrink the roadway, which is meant to act as a traffic calming measure to encourage slower driving. New Albany City Council President Jason Applegate said the goal is to make the city safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
“What's special about this project is you're really putting it into the future of New Albany and how travel and how access to downtown is done, which is going to be walkability, safety,” he said.
The Main Street Revitalization Project will cost an estimated $3 million. New Albany’s press release on the initiative said the city is responsible for 20% of that total, while the federal government will cover the rest under an 80/20 match arrangement.
John Boyle is a corps member with Report For America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. John's coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County, Community Foundation of Southern Indiana and Samtec, Inc.
