The city of Buchanan’s $19 million downtown infrastructure project is almost finished, and the community is getting ready to celebrate.
Buchanan City Manager Tony McGhee tells us they’ve only got about three weeks of construction left, most of it surface work involving asphalt and concrete. He says it’s been a long year, but the end is on the horizon.
“We’re in the homestretch and you can kind of feel the collective blood pressure of the entire community, or about 20 points, I think,” McGhee said. “It’s been tough. It’s hard to do a project like this without having an impact on the community, but people are starting to see what’s coming their way, and you’re starting to feel some excitement start to build amongst the community, the downtown businesses.”
Throughout the work, downtown businesses have struggled to attract customers due to all the closed streets and detours, but McGhee says people are starting to see the benefits of getting all of this work done.
“Downtown’s really taken a big transformation for us. We’re really excited to get things reopened. And the merchants have been good. It’s been tough on everybody. It’s a big project to take on, but we’re glad to be the other side of it right now to just show us what a resilient community Buchanan is.”
The project has included water and sewer work along with streetscape improvements. McGhee says they’ve transformed Front Street into what’s known as a “tabletop street” that’s one elevation to create a flexible environment that could be used as a plaza for festivals and other events. There are also now wider sidewalks and new trees going in.
The city will hold a celebration and ribbon cutting on November 21 at 10:30 a.m. with guests on hand. McGhee says it’s a relief to finally unveil a brand-new downtown.
