Utility undergrounding will begin next week along the S. Washington Street corridor. The construction work, which is the first phase of the S. Washington Street Transit Plaza project, starts Monday, September 25 and will continue through Spring 2018.
According to a City release, the goals of the S. Washington Street Transit Plaza project are to improve multiple methods of transportation along the thoroughfare and make the corridor a safer, more accessible route for all users. The future Transit Plaza will include bus shelters, benches, and bike racks. Planned improvements to the corridor include making pedestrian-friendly changes to the Hillwood Ave. and S. Washington St. intersection, adding streetscape (such as street lighting and ADA compliant curb ramps) along both sides of S. Washington St. from Annandale Rd. to Tinner Hill, and replacing aging signal infrastructure. The scope of the utility undergrounding work consists of installing conduits, vaults, and junction boxes necessary to underground overhead utilities along the corridor in order to improve pedestrian and ADA accessibility by removing utility poles within the pedestrian pathway. Access to business and residential entrances along the corridor will remain open.
The project work hours will be 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. on weekdays. Although the work is being done outside of peak demand periods, residents and commuters should expect some traffic delays. Phase two of the project, Washington Gas line relocations, is anticipated to start in late Spring 2018 and last through Winter 2018. The streetscape construction portion of the project, the final phase of work, is expected to conclude in Winter 2019.
