WAYNESBORO — Work on a project that will help fulfill a vision to connect the Boro Plaza on Walnut Street and the downtown area has begun.
The $217,762 revitalization effort will feature the installation of 11 new Victorian style street lights on both sides of Walnut Street between Second and Third streets. The lights will be nearly identical to those on Main Street and Clayton Avenue, according to Kevin Grubbs, director of engineering for the Borough of Waynesboro.
“(Borough) Council is really excited about this. The Plaza is a very viable and busy area, and we’re doing everything we can to make that area look a lot more presentable. People are always people coming and going,” added Grubbs, director of engineering for the Borough of Waynesboro. WBO Health & Fitness is the anchor at the Plaza, which is home to a variety of businesses.
The work will continue next year when the sidewalks in that area of Walnut Street are upgraded and the street rebuilt. “That’s the first phase of the project. Once we get everything done between Second and Third streets, then we will move forward to the first block between Main and Second streets … in a couple of years,” Grubbs said.
The lighting project, which should be completed in a month, was funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, the Commonwealth Financing Authority and a Multimodal Transportation grant, Grubbs noted. The general contractor is GRC General Contractor Inc. The subcontractors are Scott’s Hauling and Excavating, Chambersburg, which is doing the excavation work for the electrical conduit as well as the bases for the lights, and GW Electric Co. Inc., Greencastle, he added.
Officials are trying to keep Walnut Street open at all times, Grubbs said, “but at a certain point we will have to close it near Second Street while they do road crossing work on the power source at the pole underground from the east to the west side.”
“This work is something the borough has been wanting to do for the past couple years,” he added. “It’s the completion of another phase of our comprehensive plan.”
