It’s been a long time coming, but Jefferson officials have finally gotten the green light to proceed with a project to improve the downtown corridor.

After years of planning, work on the city’s streetscapes project is set to begin in little more than a week.

“We’ve coordinated with the contractor and we expect for work to begin on June 7,” said John Ward, city manager.

“We’re looking at doing the work in phases, beginning on the eastern side of downtown — near Story Street — and moving to the west.”

The first phase of the project will center around installing sidewalks, Ward says.

Ultimately, the project should be completed in five phases and will end near Athens Street.

The city has been busy planning the streetscapes project since 2006, beginning with preliminary engineering studies. Multiple start-dates were set for 2009, one in February and another in September.

Both of those had to be scrapped because of delays with making the necessary property acquisitions and obtaining certifications from the Georgia Department of Transportation.

With all of the necessary paperwork and public meetings squared away, the city is free to proceed Ward says.

In addition to sidewalks, the streetscapes project will include replacing existing traffic signals that hang from cables with ones that are mounted on wrought-iron styled poles.

Additional plantings and new street lights that reflect the style of the traffic signal poles will also be included in the scope of work.

The goal of the renovations is bring back some of the historic charm of the 1800s, while increasing pedestrian safety with the addition of crosswalks and crossing signals.

The work is being completed by Triscapes, a Alpharetta-based construction company.

According to Ward, project contract gives the company nine months to complete the work, but city officials hope to have things wrapped up by December.