South Broad to remain closed through Friday

South Broad Street from First Avenue S.W. to the intersection with Second Avenue S.E. and ML King Jr. Avenue S.W. will remain closed through 5 p.m. Friday, May 27, Cairo City Manager Chris Addleton announced Monday.
Originally, the street was projected to reopen last Friday but issues with compaction and suitable dirt have forced a delay. Rain late last week also delayed workers.
“We decided it would be less hassle just to keep the road closed rather than to try and reopen it partially,” Addleton said. “It’s too much of safety issue,” he added.
The road is closed for work involved in phase one of the downtown streetscape project, which is being funded in large part by a $700,000 federal grant awarded to the city five years ago.
JCI General Contractors, Inc., of Moultrie, which has done similar projects in Thomasville, Bainbridge, Donalsonville and Richland, is the general contractor on the project.
The project includes a reduction in lanes on South Broad Street to two, plus a turning lane, landscaping, benches and new lighting and traffic signals.
City officials had said previously that it will take four to six months to complete phase one.
Phase two, which has already been designed, as has phase three, would run from the railroad crossing to Roddenbery Memorial Library. Phase three of the streetscape would connect Broad Street to Davis Park on the east and to the Grady Cultural Center on the west.