The skyline along Jesse Jewell Parkway will continue to change dramatically this month as construction on Gainesville's pedestrian bridge begins.
Tristar of America employees are finishing demolition of the public safety building, and city workers are relocating utility lines near the Georgia Mountains Center. Gainesville residents could see the beginnings of bridge construction in two or three weeks.
"Everything is going as scheduled, and we're over at the site now getting ready to move some utilities to make way for the bridge foundation," project manager Barclay Fouts said. "Even with the amount of bad weather, Tristar has done well dealing with it, and we seem to be on the scheduled time frame we had in mind to get everything out of the way from the demolition."
City workers put up a fence in the Henry Ward Way parking lot to begin moving two water lines, a sewer line and some trees next week. They will also remove the Georgia Mountains Center sign and replace it with a new marquee at the intersection of Jesse Jewell and Main Street. The new sign will feature LED lighting and a "V" shape so passing traffic can see.
"Four trees have to come out there at the corner so people can see the sign once it's installed," said Tim Collins, assistant director for public utilities. "We'll be planting back trees and landscaping after we get the bridge built."
The city received four bids by Sept. 16 for the bridge project, and the Gainesville Redevelopment Authority approved Rogers Bridge Co. of Covington for a total contract of $2.18 million, which fell below the city's original budget of $2.2 million to $2.5 million.
With a projected six-month contract, the bridge should be complete before August. Officials hope construction won't have a significant effect on traffic.
"The bridge beams are precast and brought to the job site and set, which we're arranging to do at night to avoid having to close the road," Collins said.
"We're coordinating that with the (Department of Transportation). Then we just put on the finishing touches."
Similar to the design on the sign at Jesse Jewell and Main Street, the bridge will feature a concrete base, metal handrails and fencing along the sides.
Projected to be 450 feet long and 10 feet wide, it will span the four-lane road from the west side of the Georgia Mountains Center to the demolished public safety building area.
City View, a planned high-rise hotel featured as the keystone of redeveloping Midtown, is paying for the bridge. The city later will reimburse up to $3 million once a contract goes out for the proposed 10-story office building and hotel.
Once the pedestrian bridge connects the downtown area to midtown, developers will focus their attention on attracting proposals for the office building and hotel.