Section of Main Street through downtown will reopen on July 9
Other amenities will be added as work continues
FARMINGTON — A section of Main Street through downtown Farmington that has been closed since early January will reopen Thursday, July 9 as the first phase of the Complete Streets project nears completion.
Motorists will be able to navigate the portion of Main Street running from Court Avenue to Orchard Avenue on that day, and the sidewalks will be open to pedestrians, according to city spokeswoman Georgette Allen.
A short section of Main Street west of Orchard that also is part of the first phase of the renovation project will not be open to vehicles because of the phase two construction that has begun at Allen Avenue. But the sidewalks will be open to pedestrians.
Over the next few days, workers are scheduled to finish laying the pavement through the phase one section and applying traffic and parking striping. Traffic signage went up last week, as did decorative street lights, and the finishing touches were being put on brick sidewalks. Decorative boulders were added to roundabouts.
But plenty of work remains to be done. Dozens of trees were removed from the area before work on phase one began, and replacement trees will not be planted until the fall, which is considered the ideal time to plant them, according to Allen.
Several other amenities will continue to be added over the next several weeks, including landscape features, electrical receptacles in planters, railings, benches, trash and recycling receptacles, bike racks, bike repair stations and gateway signage. In the fall, a wifi and public address speaker system will be installed, Allen said.
While that work is being done to complete the first phase, workers already have started on the second phase of the project, which stretches from Allen to Auburn Avenue. The pavement already has been removed from that stretch of West Main Street to allow for infrastructure work, and the construction zone has been surrounded by a chain-link fence. Work on the second phase of the downtown renovation is scheduled to be finished in November.
For more information about the Complete Streets project, visit heartoffarmington.org.
Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription.