The city will soon begin replacing the sidewalks on both sides of a 550-foot section of Center Street from College Avenue to an alleyway near the downtown square.
Photo: Todd Gill, Flyer staff
A meeting to review concepts for upcoming improvements to the sidewalks on East Center Street is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 23 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in room 326 of Fayetteville City Hall.
The meeting will be a drop-in style event, meaning the public is invited to come by at any time from 5 to 6:30 p.m. to review and discuss various concepts with staff members and to provide comments.
This graphic shows the final sidewalk plan for College Avenue and Mountain Street, and the possible new plan for Center Street.
Source: City staff
Up for consideration is the possibility of building wider sidewalks on Center Street to give pedestrians more walking room and to allow restaurant owners to add outdoor seating.
The area is part of a larger renovation project that will add new sidewalks with brick borders, trees and streetlights to two other downtown streets including College Avenue (from Mountain to Center streets) and Mountain Street (from College to East Avenue).
Work is already underway on Mountain Street and College Avenue.
The project was originally expected to cost $149,000 to improve all three streets, but several business owners have asked city staff to consider an alternate design on Center Street.
According to Jeremy Pate, the city’s development services director, the added width would add as much as $44,000 to the cost of the project.
The City Council’s Street Committee first discussed the idea on July 31, but decided to gather public input before making a final decision.
