SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — Construction on Broughton Street has been going on for multiple years and has cost several million dollars. Wednesday, the City of Savannah held a ribbon-cutting ceremony announcing the completion of the first phase of the Broughton Streetscapes Project.
However, the possibility of a second phase has some local business owners worried that more construction work is around the corner.
Local leaders are addressing frustrations over the setbacks and roadblocks the project faced, saying it’s something they’re taking into account.
“I don’t think we really anticipated, although we should have, that once you start digging, you start finding stuff and you find that you have infrastructure and pipes that are older than what they were. I don’t think that we really have the stomach for phase two,” said Mayor Van Johnson during his weekly press conference Thursday.
When asked if phase two will definitely happen, Johnson said this time, nothing is certain.
“I don’t know. I mean, I think we just have to reassess where we are with this,” the mayor said. “My concern is now you have a street that has unequal infrastructure so to speak. You have new pipes and infrastructure on one end and older ones on the other end sometimes can spell problems.”
He says as they prepare for the next steps, the city is taking note of frustrations and concerns from Broughton Street business owners.
“You have businesses there that say, ‘Well we don’t want it.’ OK, well maybe we won’t have it,” said Johnson, continuing, “I think we just have to determine working with them what all of that means, how we can do it in a way and at maybe a time that is less intrusive.”
The city says in spite of the drawbacks, the goal of this project is to support local businesses and continue to improve the experience for patrons in the years to come.
“I will tell you, Broughton Street is thriving and this improvement will continue to help it to thrive,” said Johnson.
In total, phase 1 cost roughly $3.3 million. The mayor says at this time, there is no official timeline for phase two.