Downtown Hartwell Streets to Get Facelift

In Hart County, the City of Hartwell is planning a major facelift for two of its more famous streets.

This week, Hartwell Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the City is preparing to embark on two Streetscape projects on Depot and Carolina Streets.

Johnson said engineers are working on a plan to improve the appearance and accessibility of of Carolina street.

“Carolina is the one I wanted to update, council. You’ve probably already seen some emails. We have the engineering study back on the Carolina Street project. For those who’ve been paying attention, know that Carolina Street is off the main street heading toward Depot. We’re looking at resurfacing sidewalks as well as the street, and installing railing around to keep it from being a hazard. So nice project. Nice add, plus we have a new restaurant going in down there so that’s good for the city,” said Johnson.

The restaurant, a steakhouse, is expected to open in August.

Johnson then talked about a bigger project – a $430,000 Streetscape project for Depot Street.

Johnson says most of that cost will come from a State grant.

“We did get approved for the ARC grant for the revitalization and Streetscape of Depot Street. So, a huge win for us. Total project is estimated for $430,000. That doesn’t include resurfacing the street but we can do that with our SPLOST anyway. So, total cost is $430,000. New Streetscape is really going to make it look nice, safe, more accessible, all those things. So, that’s about $300,000 in grant money and our match is about $130,000,” said Johnson.

The mayor said engineers have most of Depot Street surveyed and may be doing additional surveying this week.

Once the surveying has been completed, engineers will then start the design phase.

Johnson said the actual work on the Depot and Carolina Streets Streetscape project is expected to begin next year.