Next spring will bring changes along Maysville’s Second Street in the downtown area, city officials said recently.
A project by Columbia Gas to replace aging gas lines will be piggybacked with a city project to replace equally aging water lines in the area and to improve the appearance of streets, sidewalks and signage, according to Maysville Project Director David Hord.
The project is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2019, Hord said, and encompass an area from Second Street where the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge crosses over to Wall Street, he said. The work will include some interior streets, he said.
The old steel gas lines currently in place will be replaced with plastic lines and new services installed to customers, he said.
“That will entail a lot of digging,” Hord said.
The city will go behind Columbia and replace water lines, Hord said, saving time and expense.
In conjunction with the project, the city hopes to hire an architect to advise on streetscaping in the area, including signage and sidewalk replacement if economically feasible, Hord said. Historic design street lights would be painted to be consistent throughout, he said.
“This is an opportunity to get creative and change things up,” Wallingford said.
Some residents were alarmed when work on middle Sutton Street recently resulted in the brick street being taken up and replaced with blacktop. But both Hord and City Manager Matt Wallingford said that was only temporary. Once the work is complete, a decision on how to finish the roadway will be made, they said. Options could include a blacktop driving area with parking areas in brick, returning the brick as it was originally or replacing the brick with a stamped brick design.
The scope of the project will be determined by the funds available, Wallingford said.
The city is also awaiting approval from the state on a project to add streetscaping, parking and sidewalks in Maysville’s west end along Second Street. Funding of that project, expected to cost about $750,000 is through a state transportation grant.
