Calhoun residents will now be able to “walk the walk,” as one door closes on the third phase of the “streetscapes” project and another door opens on the fourth phase, to construct and enhance sidewalks in downtown Calhoun.

At a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, members from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), Calhoun Downtown Development Authority, City Council, State House representative John Meadows, and others, gathered in front of the Gordon County Courthouse to commemorate the event.

Funded in part by the Transportation Enhancement (TE) grants, a federally funded program administered by GDOT, the fourth phase of the project named “streetscapes,” will signal completion of three phases prior designed to enhance and construct sidewalks in downtown Calhoun.

Phase four comes with a price tag of $100,000 from the city of Calhoun, with an approximately 25 percent match of $400,000 from GDOT in the form of a TE grant, according to Roland.

Cleaning up the sidewalks in downtown Calhoun has been an ongoing project since 2001 with TE grants up for application every two years.

Phase two of the project which was not underway until 2003, was stalled due to an absence of being awarded a TE grant, in between application years.

In phase one, sidewalks were installed or maintained on Court Street. Phase two constructed and enhanced sidewalks from the West side of Wall Street from the BP gas station, up to BB&T bank.

Phase three, whose completion was signaled by the ribbon cutting, saw the sidewalks constructed or enhanced from BB&T down to City Hall, at the intersection of Hicks St.

The next phase in the project will consist of enhancement and construction of sidewalks on both sides of the street, down Wall Street, from City Hall, beginning at the intersection of Hicks St. to the intersection at Piedmont St.

“We hope that it will make downtown a more attractive place for businesses to open, for visitors to come, and our community to enjoy the heart of the county,” said Suzanne Roland, Director of Downtown Development Authority, and project manager.

Yeager Company was the design company for the project and has been since phase one in 2001. Completing the construction for phase three was Triscapes Inc., a landscape, streetscape, and construction company out of Alpharetta, Ga.

Though the Yeager Company is already assigned for the design of phase four, the construction bid for the project has currently not been let, according to Roland.

“We just hope that it’s something the county and city and downtown will be proud of,” said Roland.