Closure on Main Street continues; Phase 2 of project delayed
Main Street remained closed to traffic at North Hicks Street Monday morning as construction work continued. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
Instead, the section from Cullom to Church streets remained closed Monday, and will remain that way until next week, when the closure is expected to move to the “Phase 2” area, from Church to Kincaid streets, Houck said.
“They ran into some issues the first week,” he said. “To my understanding, they should move to Phase 2 next week. But rain is predicted for this week, and that may put them behind.”
As the schedule was originally announced in mid-August, Main Street was to be shut down in three phases, two times each, from Aug. 24 through Nov. 24.
Beginning next week, weather permitting, Main Street will be closed to traffic for about three weeks from Church to Kincaid streets, and then the work will move to the area from Kincaid to Broad streets, shutting that section down for about three weeks.
Then the process will repeat, with the final work to be completed in late November – or now, perhaps not until mid-December..
The traffic disruptions are the result of street, sidewalk and utility construction work that has already kept most of Market Street shut down since mid-July, blocking vehicular access to the fronts of most of the downtown businesses along Market Street.
All of the Market and Main street 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.
Still on tap for Oct. 3-4 is the fall Clinch River Antique Festival, which will involve moving the vendors to part of the Commerce Street parking lot. They normally would be set up along Market Street for the Friday and Saturday event.
Houck said Monday that some food trucks may be allowed to set up along Market Street during the festival.
With the Market Street construction underway, many of the downtown businesses have rear doors that customers may use during the disruptions.
For the current Main Street shutdown, from Cullom to Church streets, the detour route is:
• 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.
Here is the remaining schedule of Main Street traffic disruptions, in effect at least through Nov. 24:
For Phase 2, originally scheduled to run through Oct. 3, but now delayed, the detour routes are:
• 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, 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, tentatively scheduled for Nov. 3-24:
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.
