Construction starts on Main Street project
Construction officially began in downtown Hillsboro Wednesday morning for the Main Street revitalization project.
And just a few hours after work got started, it started to rain — "in keeping with our luck," said City Administrator Steve Garrett.
APAC Construction of Wichita started sawing a straight line through concrete sidewalks on the east side of Main before thunderstorms rolled in, halting their progress. That line will be the stopping point for APAC's construction.
Large orange "Road Closed" signs prohibited traffic from driving on the east side of Main between A Street and the post office area. Workers will focus on this side of Main first, Garrett said.
But plans for the work on Grand have changed.
Originally, the city had planned to tackle the north side of Grand. But the decision was made Tuesday to start on the south side of Grand first, Garrett said, in order to reschedule some water line replacement.
These sections of Main and Grand will be closed to traffic until the surface is usable for driving. That should come in "well under a month," Garrett said.
Upcoming work will include the "removal" stage, which entails taking down light poles, removing asphalt, and removing the appropriate sections of sidewalk. With the lights down, the downtown business district will be a little darker than usual.
Garrett has contacted almost all businesses that will be affected by the construction, he said. The Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce is also working with businesses during the project.
