Louisville nears completion of downtown project

WINSTON COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The city of Louisville has been undergoing a bit of a face-lift lately.

It’s part of the city’s downtown project that started five years ago.

The focus is on infrastructure and economic development.

For some, it can be a little difficult navigating your way through the heart of downtown Louisville.

The city has made strides to provide safer travel options for its citizens. And it’s almost time to share those new additions with residents.

Your trip down Main Street in Louisville is about to get a lot smoother.

Mayor Will Hill said the city has been actively working to make downtown more accessible for residents.

“What’s taking place downtown has created some inconvenience and some problems. Safety is first, all of this is to make downtown safe whether it’s traffic or pedestrian,” said Mayor Hill.

There are two separate projects, costing around $750,000.

Phase one will touch on travel, where crews will add safety features keeping pedestrians in mind as well as drivers. Phase two focuses on town beautification.

“There’s new traffic signals and a project with MDOT, address sidewalk accessibility for ADA compliance. The icing on top is that it’s going to be so aesthetically pleasing. We’re doing a landscape plan there’s going to be a lot to make downtown look beautiful,” said Hill.

Amy Hillyer is the Executive Director for Louisville’s Chamber of Commerce.

She said the goal is to create an inclusive environment for all ages.

“It just makes it more pedestrian-friendly and walk-able faster, easier. Whether it’s a stroller, whether it’s a wheelchair we just want to make it easier for our citizens to get to all the places they want to be,” said Hillyer.

“We believe Louisville is poised for growth. We survived the threat of bypass commerce, we survived a bad recession, we survived a disaster but our downtown is very vibrant. With that, we want people to have confidence to invest so by doing projects like this we’re stepping ahead and saying they we’re putting our money where our mouth is,” said Hill.

Hill said severe weather has delayed the process of getting road repairs done.

The first phase of the project should be finished by February.