MILLEDGEVILLE — Work is continuing in the second phase of the downtown Streetscape project, which began in June, and project organizers are now preparing for work on the east side of South Wayne Street that will begin by the end of the month.

As of press time Friday, an 8-inch water line has been fully installed on the west side of South Wayne Street and the connection at Hancock Street has been made; however, the line must now have a pressure test performed and the line will then be chlorinated.

Once those two steps have been completed, workers will swap the existing line to the new line along the west side of South Wayne Street and then begin some fine grading and preparation work for the concrete sidewalk that will hopefully be poured beginning the week of July 19, said Milledgeville MainStreet and Downtown Development Director Belinda Washlesky.

Concrete work was slated to begin next week, however, a large project at Plant Hatch has many concrete companies tied up until the end of the week.

So far, the work is coming along and visitors should notice progress on the west side of North Wayne Street, said Washlesky.

“The west side of North Wayne is looking really good,” she said. “They’re doing some final raking and grading and getting it ready for the concrete. It’s taken longer on the west side of South Wayne because that’s where that new water line is.”

Next week, workers will continue working on the west side of South Wayne Street, completing some grading work and preparing the area for the pouring of the new sidewalk.

“We were going to start pouring concrete next week, but then we found out that because of Plant Hatch, they’ve rallied every concrete truck in the area,” she said, adding that the concrete pouring is slated to begin during the week of July 19.

Once that has been completed, work will begin on the east side of Wayne Street, which will take longer than the west side of the street because not only is a new water line being installed, but a storm drainage system must be installed, she said.

All the businesses on the east side of Wayne Street have been invited to a public meeting, which will be held at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, as a way to prepare business owners for the next portion of the project.

“We want to prepare them for what they’re getting ready to go through,” she said. “When we round the corner, it’ll be a little bit more intensive and take a little longer. On the east side of South Wayne, in front of Aubri Lanes and Magnolia, they have to put in a storm drainage system and a water line.  That’s the area that will have the most work done.”

Work on the east side of Wayne Street is slated to begin before the end of the month, said Washlesky.

Milledgeville MainStreet has made an effort to get the word out that businesses in the downtown area are still open despite the construction that is continuing on in the area, she said.

“We put up banners and we’ve run ads to call attention to the fact that the businesses are all still open,” she said referring to the new banners that are now on display on Wayne Street and ads that have been taken out in local newspapers.

Washlesky said upon asking downtown business owners about the effect that the Streetscape project has had on their business, most of the business owners said it had made little to no difference in their normal business sales, as compared to this same time last year.

A few people voiced concern that the Red Door and Ryal’s Bakery had closed their businesses temporarily because of the construction; however, both of those businesses normally take a regularly scheduled vacation during the month of July, she said.

In the end, the result of the project will be worth it, said Washlesky, and several new business owners have seen the value in the finished product that will result from this project.

Rachael Phillips, who plans on opening a new upscale clothing boutique called Jack and Darcy’s right next to Aubri Lane’s in August, was excited about the result of the project, said Washlesky.

“She said, ‘Oh, no problem. I am looking forward to it because in the end, I know it’s going to be so much better,’” said Washlesky of her discussion with the new business owner.

Additionally, the owners of six new two-bedroom, two-bath lofts that are slated to be constructed above the Baldwin Bulletin are excited about the end result of the project because it will enable them to move along with their own project, she said.

“They are going to have better water lines to support the growth we’re seeing in town,” she said, adding that the addition of living quarters directly in the downtown area will keep people in the downtown more frequently on a day-to-day basis.

The end result, which will include new street lights and sidewalks, will make the downtown area safer and potentially decrease the amount of vacant storefronts on Wayne Street in the long run.

“We’ve had so many complaints about those sidewalks [that are made with pebbles.] It won’t be slick when it rains any more,” she said. “It’ll be safer. We’ll have matching street lights and it’ll be brighter and safer and all around better for everybody.”

The vacancy rate went down when the first phase of Streetscape on Hancock Street was completed several years ago, she added.

“When they finished the first phase of Streetscape on Hancock [several years ago,] the vacancy rate went down 36 percent. Right now, we only have six vacancies downtown. We have 30 occupied businesses within the 100 block of Wayne Street.”

The project is still slated to be done in time for the Deep Roots festival that takes place every October in downtown Milledgeville and brings in thousands of visitors to the downtown Milledgeville area.

“Everything thing is on schedule,” she said. “And we were very adamant about there being stiff penalties if they go over [the scheduled date of completion.] Even if they have to work on Sundays or the weekends, we’re going to make sure that it’s finished before the festival.”