Cookeville seeking public input Monday night on the 39 Depot Street project, aiming to revitalize the West Side area through new parking, green spaces and better traffic flow.
Mayor Laurin Wheaton said the project focuses on a property the city purchased to highlight local shops and establish a long-term vision for the district. Wheaton said the conceptual plans include the addition of up to 160 parking spaces and potential areas for future retail or commercial development.
“A lot of (people) have great ideas, to be honest,” Wheaton said. “I know, I’m not an engineer by any means, I don’t own a business down there. And so, I want to hear from the people who are down there every day, who are going to be traveling that area, who have businesses, who live down there. What is there input on that? Because that is important.”
Wheaton said the city is specifically looking for feedback on street designs and whether the area should be more pedestrian-friendly. The public hearing begins Monday at 5pm.
Wheaton said the proposal involves a potential rework of the intersection of Broad Street, Cedar Street, and Depot Street, an area often referred to locally as “Malfunction Junction.”
“I’ve always said I don’t have all the answers and I want people to, you know, give me their perspective, their point of view, and a lot of times we take that with us when we do these designs,” Wheaton said. “We also rely on the engineers, traffic studies, architects, things like that who help us with that overall, so we do have a lot more, in-depth studies, discussions when it comes to that kind of stuff, but hearing the input of the people who it’s going to affect.”
Wheaton said the project will be completed in four phases, with the first phase focusing on the high-priority need for parking south of the Depot. Wheaton said the city will also address underground infrastructure, such as moving water and sewer lines, before surface work begins to ensure the new parking lot does not have to be excavated for repairs in the near future.
“Construction is never easy, it always does cause a hiccup in things when you talking about the area, traffic, business, stuff like that,” Wheaton said. “So we want to make sure that everyone’s very aware of what we’re doing, try to get timelines nailed down as much as possible, and also really get the concept nailed down to say, ‘Okay guys, this is the final, product, final design, this is what you’re going to see happen here,’ so everyone can know.”
Wheaton said the city has already coordinated with the railroad to secure necessary approvals for the work near the tracks. Wheaton said while some dirt may be moved before her term ends in August, the full scope of the project will likely take a few years to reach completion.
“I think they should know, you know, this is a city project,” Wheaton said. “This is us doing the work, the manpower. You know, we’re going to be contracting things out obviously, but this is a city project. And so if people will just be patient with us, you know, unfortunately, things come up and things happen, stuff sometimes that is out of our control.”