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Last updated on Thursday, January 26, 2017
(BEDFORD) - The City of Bedford and Lochmueller Group will hold two public meetings on Monday to discuss the Stellar Downtown Streetscape Plan on Monday.
The meetings will be held at the Stonegate Arts & Education Center at 405 I Street.
The first meeting for government officials and businesses will be held at 1 p.m. The second meeting is open to the public and businesses and will begin at 5:30 p.m.
Officials are looking for feedback from business owners and the public.
"During the Stellar planning, one of the priorities was improving the downtown streetscape," says Marla Jones, business and community development director for the city of Bedford . "The goal is to have a more walkable, accessible downtown."
The streetscape plan will revamp all four sides of the downtown square and one block north and south of the square on J Street.
INDOT awarded the project to Weddle Brothers Highway Group which submitted the lowest bid of $2,160,413.
Jones says that streetscape improvements characteristically advance economic indicators in the downtown business area, such as higher occupancy rate, increase in private reinvestment, better business mix, greater business stability and lower turnover.
Improvements includes new sidewalks. The tiered sidewalks on three sides of the downtown square pose barriers in the middle of the block for those unable to access via the steps.
"It is challenging for those with accessibility issues, so ramps will be installed," she added.
Not all of the work will be done at once.
"Businesses will remain open during the project," she added. "We don't want to hinder business....An example would be The Twelve Months of Christmas is only open in October, November and December, so crews will not be working in front of that business during those months."
Commissioner President Gene McCracken requested that when the sidewalks are replaced in front of the Courthouse Plaza that they be angled so water does not flow back into the building.
"Currently they are slanted in the wrong direction causing water to flow into the basement area," McCracken added.
Jones says those are the type of comments she hopes to generate during the meetings.
"If we don't know about the problems we can't address them," she added. "This is the type of information we are looking for."
1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com
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