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Livingston’s South Church Street repaving project got underway Friday.
Livingston Downtown Redevelopment Commission Chairman Gene Gantt said the old pavement has been removed. Gantt said the project should only take a few days to complete.
“It’s going really quick,” Gantt said. “So they did all of the initial asphalt removal in about a day and as they are laying the pavement now it looks like they are clipping along pretty fast so hopefully within a day or two that will all be finished.”
Gantt said the project experienced about a year of delays due to weather, utility line issues, material delays, and equipment issues. Gantt said the delays did make it a challenge to get started but those challenges are fairly common with a project of that magnitude.
“It has taken about a year to do but this was a very big project that involved all of our utilities,” Gantt said. “The city of Livingston did a majority of the work, so it has gone at a pretty good pace even though there were some delays along the way.”
Gantt said Livingston has been able to keep a good relationship with the local businesses that are affected by the project.
“We try to work with the businesses on Church Street for alternative parking and alternative entrances to their businesses,” Gantt said. “They were able to stay open throughout the whole process even when the sidewalks were taking up in front of their businesses there were walkways put in and things like that. So the relationship is still good and I think they are going to be very proud of what happens after it is all completed.”
Gantt said he expects to see more businesses come to the downtown area once the downtown revitalization project is complete. Gantt said for the next few days South Church Street will be closed. Gantt said the businesses will still be able to operate during that time as alternative parking has been provided.
