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South Franklin Street, that wide, rather
bare link between N.C. 98 Business and
the N.C. 98 bypass as well as a
connection to downtown Wake Forest, is
due for a make-over.
The beauty treatment was one
of the recommendations town residents
agreed on for the Renaissance Plan, and
now the town is ready to call in the
make-up artists.
The town has set a public
workshop for Monday, July 31, from 6 to
8 p.m. in town hall. The plans are to
build a landscaped median, roundabouts,
sidewalks, lighting and what are called
gateway features.
There will be corridor maps,
drawings and computer models to
demonstrate how the improvements will
look. The staff from the project
consultant firm of Kimley-Horne and
Associates will answer questions about
the design and landscaping.
One the town staff and the
consultants know what people find
appealing and want to see along the
street, the plans will be finalized and
sent out for bid and construction.
The two roundabouts would be
at the intersections of East Holding
Avenue and East Elm Avenue.
There has been some
preliminary planning for a third
roundabout at the extension of East Owen
Avenue, but that would be scrapped if
the town board decides on the
recommended plan for a new town hall.
That calls for Owen to be closed east of
Brooks Street and the town hall to be
built across it.
Franklin Street will be the
first town project to implement the
Renaissance Plan, which calls for a
walkable, mixed-use downtown area.
A private group, the
Renaissance Investors Group consisting
of Mike Johnson, Matt Hale and Charles
Grantham, purchased two houses on the
north side of East Jones Avenue. They
plan to tear down the houses – which
once housed jovi’s Kitchen and Market
and John Lyon’s Appraisal House – and
build a four-story building with retail
on the ground floor, 18 to 20
condominiums on the upper floors and an
underground garage for the tenants.
(See the June 14 Gazette for more
details.) |
