Cleveland has removed underground storage tanks from the square so that road improvements, held up for about three months, can resume.

“It was like pulling a tooth,” City Clerk Connie Tracas said today.

The Georgia Department of Transportation crews may arrive by late April to finish the work, said Teri Pope, DOT spokeswoman.

The state was in the middle of upgrades to the square in October when workers, digging to pour concrete footings at U.S. 129 and Ga. 115 for the last of three decorative mast arms, struck the two tanks.

The state stopped the project and plugged the holes with steel plates.

DOT officials later learned that a Pure gas station occupied the lot near the tanks in the early 1960s.

The project is part of an overall effort to improve traffic flow and pedestrian access on the square.

Cleveland spent $42,000 on the mast arms, which will replace wooden signal poles.

Georgia DOT crews also have expanded the turning radius from 5 feet to 75 feet from Ga. 115 east to U.S. 129 south. DOT crews also are building three crosswalks and installing pedestrian signals to allow protected walking access across U.S. 129 and Ga. 115.