Market, Main street closures continue
Street, sidewalk and utility construction work continues to keep most of Market Street and part of Main Street closed in downtown Clinton.
For the third week in a row, Main Street is closed from Cullom to East Church streets, and will remain so through Friday, Sept. 12.
This is just the beginning for Main Street, however, as closures of sections of the street will continue through Nov. 24.
Main Street traffic interruptions come after several weeks of having Market Street closed from Main to Cullom streets, blocking vehicular access to most of the downtown businesses along Market.
All of those businesses remain open throughout the construction, with parking available in the two downtown parking lots – on Commerce Street and on North Main Street at North Hicks Street.
Many of the downtown businesses have rear doors that customers may use during the construction work.
The continuing Market Street closure will force the relocation of much of the Clinch River Fall Antique Festival, which is slated for Oct. 3-4, with tentative plans calling for vendors to be set up in part of the city’s Commerce Street parking lot.
Here is the remaining schedule of Main Street traffic disruptions, in effect through Nov. 24:
From Sept. 15-Oct. 3, Main Street will be closed to traffic from East Church Street to Kincaid Street, and then from Oct. 6-24, Main Street will be shut down from Kincaid Street to Broad Street.
For the current phase, through Friday (Sept. 12), the detour routes will be:
• Southbound traffic (toward Market Street): follow North Hicks Street to West Broad Street then back to Main Street.
• Northbound traffic (toward Market Street): Follow West Broad Street to North Hicks Street then back to Main Street.
Flaggers are on duty to help keep motorists on track.
For Phase 2, from Sept. 15-Oct. 3, the detour routes will be:
• Southbound traffic (toward Market Street): Follow East Church Street to North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard to Kincaid Street as the designated detour.
• Northbound traffic (toward Market Street): Follow Kincaid Street to North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard to East Church Street as the designated detour.
For Phase 3, Oct. 6-24, the detour routes will be:
• Southbound traffic (toward Market Street): Follow Kincaid Street to North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard to Broad Street as the designated detour.
• Northbound traffic (toward Market Street): Follow Broad Street to North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard to Kincaid Street as the designated detour.
The closures will repeat when the “concrete segment” of the Main Street work begins:
Phase 1: Nov. 3-10, the section of Main Street between Kincaid Street and Broad Street will be closed for construction.
Detour routes:
• Southbound traffic (toward Market Street): Follow Kincaid Street to North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard to Broad Street as the designated detour.
• Northbound traffic (toward Market Street): Follow Broad Street to North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard to Kincaid Street as the designated detour.
Phase 2: Nov. 10-17, the section of Main Street between East Church Street and Kincaid Street will be closed.
Detour routes:
• Southbound traffic (toward Market Street): Follow East Church Street to North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard to Kincaid Street as the designated detour.
• Northbound traffic (toward Market Street): Follow Kincaid Street to North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard to East Church Street as the designated detour.
Phase 3: Nov. 17-24, the section of Main Street between East Church Street and Cullom Street will be closed.
Detour routes:
• Southbound traffic (toward Market Street): Follow North Hicks Street to West Broad Street to Main Street as the designated detour.
• Northbound traffic (toward Market Street): Follow West Broad Street to North Hicks Street to Main Street as the designated detour.
The schedule for the Main Street closures and the detour routes during those shutdowns are detailed online at clintontn.net/o/clinton/page/main-street.
This is part of a $9.9 million project that began in late February and is expected to last for about 17 months total in the historic area of downtown Clinton as new water and sewer lines are installed, sidewalks are replaced and improved, and landscaping is added.
The complete Market Street shutdown came in July after downtown merchants met with the city and asked for the street to be closed so the work could be speeded up and finished earlier than originally scheduled.
Barricades have been in place since the shutdown at the top of Market Street where it meets Main Street, and on the other end to just east of Cullom Street.
Boundaries of the project are nearly all of Market Street, from Cullom to Main, then Main from Market to Broad streets; and Broad from Main Street to Lakefront Park at Charles G. Seivers Boulevard. Pearl Alley off Market Street will also be included.
The completed project will include:
• Level spaces at building entrances.
• Twenty-inch seat walls with flower beds that include layered shrubs, grasses and perennials.
• On Pearl Alley, “gateway to Market Street – medium and flowering trees to frame the space between buildings.”
• A “two-sided historic-looking clock.”
• “Large canopy trees” to “provide a strong impact at key intersections.”
• “Medium canopy trees [to] provide a rhythm and a constant presence.”
• “Flowering trees [to] provide visual interest.”
• “Decorative bollards at parking spaces.”
• “Updated utilities and sewer infrastructure.”
