Kingsport city engineer updates public on Main Street Rebuild project
KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) — The City of Kingsport hosted a public meeting on Monday evening to provide an update and hear input from the community on its Main Street Rebuild project.
News Channel 11 spoke with City Engineer Henry Clabaugh at the meeting in City Hall, who said some soft, unstable ground in the area provided a challenge for crews.
"The focus right now is road sub-grade stabilization," he said. "We had some soft, unsuitable soils down here, high groundwater table. So we're stabilizing the sub-grade and then the next step will be putting down the rock and the stone on top of the stabilized sub-grade. And then we'll come with the concrete work, with the curb and gutter, sidewalks, and then the final step will be the asphalt pavement."
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Clabaugh said the project should be completed in full by April. It passed the halfway mark in May.
"The total project, next spring. So April 2025. right now, we're working block by block in the clay. The Shelby Street block should be complete by the end of October."
The project is a $20 million, multi-year construction deal. The city said it aims to improve and beautify one of the main gateways into downtown Kingsport. Work began in Nov. 2022 near the Kingsport Area Transit System (KATS) side of Main Street and has since moved westward toward Clinchfield Street.
Clabaugh said anyone with questions about the project can give him a call–they don't necessarily have to wait until the next public update meeting.
"My office is right in there, [on] Main Street, and I'm always available. That's what we want, line of communication. So we don't want our citizens, our customers, to have to wait 'til the next, you know, wait a couple more months for the next meeting. They can call me tomorrow and I can meet with them tomorrow afternoon or the next day."
Tasks included in the project range from new utility lines–water, sewer and stormwater–phone and cable lines installed underground, relocating powerlines to the opposite side of the road and enhancing the side of the road with landscaping.
