City gets DOT grant to beautify gateway into downtown. (Columbus: landscaping, moving)

[Fountain-of-youth]

Columbus has been awarded a $32,000 grant to create a landscaped gateway plot on Second Avenue at 18th Street, the Georgia Department of Transportation announced.

Sam Wellborn, Columbus’ representative on the DOT Board, said the grant is the result of the work of a group of Columbus residents who want to see the Second Avenue corridor leading into downtown improved. More than 16,000 cars a day travel on that section of road, according to the city traffic map.




The grant will be used to create a landscaped quarter acre on the southwest corner of the intersection, with grass, shrubbery, small trees and a lighted brick and concrete sign welcoming people into the downtown area.

Preparing the site will involve removing an existing guard rail and then replacing it with a decorative version to be placed within the plantings. It will also involve removing a section of old roadbed that was left unused when the Second Avenue Bridge was built.



The grant project will be part of an overall beautification and revitalization plan for the First and Second Avenue corridors between TSYS and Bibb City.

The grant is part of a DOT beautification program that uses funds from fees that billboard companies pay to the agency, Wellborn said.

The landscaping is being designed by Gullatte Landscape Architecture.

City gets DOT grant to beautify gateway into downtown | Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Downtown is starting to boom!

[Columbus1984]

This along, with the Arts District, will be game changers for downtown.

[DWColumbus]

That sounds like a much needed change. It will go along way toward making the entrance toward downtown more attractive.