The re-paving of some city parking lots and streets is on the horizon for Columbus. City Engineer Kevin Stafford said several projects are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
“The city internally is getting some quotes for the parking lots,” Stafford said. “This is for the Hitching Lot and Trotter Convention Center, Catfish Alley parking lot and the green space at the Riverwalk on the other side of Harvey’s. Basically, we are going to double our parking spaces at the lot up from the Riverwalk.”
The council voted to fund the projects with $432,000 leftover from general obligation bond money. It is not known how much of the $432,000 will be needed for the projects.
Stafford said Mayor Robert Smith is working on getting a price for the projects, some of which will be paved by assistance from the county.
The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors Friday voted to assist with the paving of the Hitching Lot parking lot and the Trotter Convention Center parking lot.
The council again will discuss paving at its June 19 meeting.
“The councilmen will give me a priority of what they want done in their wards,” said Stafford. “I will begin putting them some prices together. We hope to have a list of the approved streets in the next two weeks. We will probably open the bids in August and start the paving process in October, November and December. That’s a good time of the year to do paving and the lower fuel costs are an additional bonus.”
One of the most anticipated construction projects in Columbus soon will be coming to fruition, Stafford said.
“We are hoping the landscaping will begin on the soccer complex by mid-July,” he said. “We hope to be done before the contractual deadline of August 21.”
A project that has not yet been approved is turning parts of First Street South into a one-way street. The proposal was made by resident Thomas Moore at a recent council meeting.
“There are not enough people in favor of this,” Stafford said. “We have been given a petition opposing this action. It’s been more than 30 days since this was brought up and we have not had enough people in favor of it come forward.”
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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