AUBURN — The easy part is going to be admiring the new 6th and Main Streetscape when it’s all finished.
The hard part starts Monday, when Crosby Excavating will make its first street closures and begin work on the $1.3 million project, which will come with the usual construction headaches.
“It’s going to be loud, noisy, dirty, disruptive,” Andi Adams of Crosby said Monday. “That’s just part of it. Like my grandma said, ‘You have to crack an egg to make an omelet.’ That’s what we have to do.”
Adams addressed city officials and downtown business and building owners in a meeting Monday at Auburn City Hall. Urban Ley and Cody Ley of Crosby also were present, along with representatives of Jones, Petrie and Rafalski, the civil engineers for the project. Rob Higgins of the Auburn Electric Department also contributed.
The project is being funded in part by a $500,000 matching Main Street Revitalization Grant administered through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The James Foundation of Auburn contributed $100,000.
Work will be done on Main Street from 5th to 7th streets, and 6th Street from Jackson Street to just east of the 6th and Main intersection.
Curbs and sidewalks will be replaced. New sidewalks with brick-paver banding will be installed. Decorative landscaping will be done on parking islands, and new street trees with tree gates will be planted.
New streetlights, benches, bike racks and trash cans will be installed. The streets will be milled and resurfaced with fresh asphalt. Overhead utilities will be moved underground.