- Construction begins May 19 and is expected to take about 300 days to complete.
- Key features include a roundabout, a new traffic signal, and a raised median to reduce crashes.
- Watch the video to see what other features will be added.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
You've probably seen signs that look like this popping up all along Remington Avenue.
well, that's because construction is finally starting on a project the city first proposed years ago.
I first told you about the plan back in November — now construction's starting, and I'm showing you what's changed and what neighbors can expect.
The city says the main goal here is to make Remington Avenue safer, especially by slowing drivers down and fixing the road's wear and tear.
"It's still moving forward. So the notice to proceed was signed, and construction is supposed to begin in the field in earnest on site on May 19th," said Harmon.
Mark Harmon, the city's Chief Building Official, tells me the planning started years ago, but the project ran into big delays when construction bids came in way over budget.
"The original conceived budget was around $8-9 million. We had budgeted up to about $13 million, and the project bids came back, the lowest bid came back at $22 million," said Harmon.
Because of that price jump, the city had to cut some things out, like landscaping and extra design features
"And so the original project grew in scope to include streetscape, trees, landscaping, sidewalks, pand edestrian access. Those are some of the elements we had to pare down. We still tried to include all of the refurbishing of the roadway, addressing utilities that needed to be resolved before the road gets replaced, so we don't come back and cut the road up, as well as controlling traffic," said Harmon.
What's still the design? A roundabout at Kern, Remington, and Reed.
A new traffic light at Covington.
And a raised concrete divider near East Pinetree to stop people from making dangerous turns — a big concern after several crashes in that area.
"We have about 10,000 passes a day on that road, and most of those occur between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. So it can be pretty intense at times," said Harmon.
This road gets a lot of traffic—it also runs past Thomasville High School and Remington Park, where kids and families often walk nearby.
"I believe it might be up to par, because you've got a lot of children out here that need a sidewalk, you know, walking around. I believe it might do good for the community," said Henderson.
I met Nathan Henderson while he was working on landscaping nearby, he's often around Remington and says he sees people walking here all the time.
"Because if you get in a wreck and hurt somebody, you know, nobody would want to go through that, you know? Safety first," said Henderson.
While neighbors are getting ready for construction to start on May 19th.
The city says they'll send out email alerts and post updates on their website to let people know about changes or road closures.
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