By Valerie Baldowski
vbaldowski@henryherald.com

Plans to make one area of Stockbridge a little more pedestrian friendly are on hold.

On Monday, the Stockbridge City Council chose a contractor for work on a downtown pedestrian improvement project along East Atlanta Road, in front of City Hall.

But the project is dependent on funding to move forward.

“We thought they’d have it completed and we’d have the funding before we got into the new City Hall, but GDOT (the Georgia Department of Transportation) and the state money just got pushed back,” said City Manager Ted Strickland.

According to Strickland, in 2004 the city developed plans to lay sidewalks, resurface the road, erect new streetlights and put in curbs and gutters from Ga. Highway 42 to Love Street. Resurfacing has already begun, but the new pavement stops in front of City Hall until more money is available to complete the work.

The original budget was about $1 million, said Strickland, and the city is hoping for grant money for the project. Stockbridge set aside 20 percent of its own money to match the grant.

As construction began on the new Stockbridge City Hall, “we had to go ahead and do a lot of the streetscape, curb and gutter work, and drainage,” continued Strickland. In the process, he explained, part of the money the city set aside to match the grant was spent.

The new City Hall opened earlier this year, at 4630 North Henry Boulevard.

Strickland said he hopes the pedestrian improvements can be completed when more funding becomes available. “We should’ve been started three months ago,” he said.