AUGUSTA, Ga. () – The Broad Street Project stakeholder informational meeting was held tonight. People had the chance to ask questions about the upcoming construction phases- and how those could affect downtown businesses and homes.

The project goes through 15th Street to the East Boundary. Starting at 15th to 13th Street and will begin towards the end of this month. This is a two-year project but could take longer, depending on any issues that may come up during construction. Those I spoke to were surprised this wasn’t an official meeting and wish they could have gotten more answers.

“I’m excited for the final product. Seeing the progress on 13th Street had really encouraged me. It is worth the headache a little bit, but at the same time, they can do better about communicating,” said Christina Berkshire, a resident.

John Ussery, with Traffic Engineering, said they have learned from the projects they are currently doing that communication could be better. That’s why they will work on keeping businesses and residents aware.

“We’re going to do our best to make sure that we communicate everybody everything to everybody in a way that’s understandable and well before it happens, and so we want to assure everybody that we’re here to improve your business we want to see it thrive and succeed,” said Assistant Director of Traffic Engineering. “And we’ll do our best to make sure that there is adequate parking near your establishment.”

The Augusta Sign Shop also hopes to make signs to point people in the direction of the businesses that are open during construction. Organizers are excited to enhance the experience on Broad Street.  

We’re also excited about just the multi-mobile transportation aspect of it. So, instead of just people and cars and parking, we’re going to make accommodations for wider sidewalks for pedestrians and bicycles,” said Ussery.

They will bring downtown up to standard with bicycle lanes, bigger parking spaces, handicap ramps, and more.  

“We’re going to maintain one lane traffic in each direction. We will try to maintain as many temporary parking. This is the only opportunity the really the city has through the TIA program to invest into the downtown infostructure’s.” said Hameed Malik, the Director of Engineering.

Ussery told me that the projects currently under construction should be done by the time they begin this new project. To learn more information about the Broad Street Project and sign up for updates, you can find it on their website here.