Marble Falls giving southern Main Street a facelift

FROM STAFF REPORTS

MARBLE FALLS — The City Council gave a thumbs up March 19 to extending Main Street to Lakeside Park.

Marble Falls City Manager Ralph Hendricks said the council awarded a bid of $308,000 to SK Nelson to make improvements to the portion of Main Street south of Yett Avenue.

“It’s going to extend downtown toward the lakes,” Hendricks said.

The plan includes widening the road and adding eight-foot sidewalks and pedestrian lighting.

Hendricks said the aim is to do a better job connecting the downtown area with Lakeside Park and Lake Marble Falls. Currently, no sidewalks extend from the downtown area to the lake area.

Even during the Christmas season, when the Walkway of Lights illuminates the shores of Lake Marble Falls and Lakeside Park, pedestrians must wander along a darker stretch of Main Street before arriving at the gate of the holiday event.

But the benefits of the Main Street improvements continue year-round. Hendricks said one of the goals of the city and council is to continue billing Marble Falls as a destination hub, where people can come and stay while experiencing the entire area.

The planned Main Street improvements feed into the destination hub scenario.

Plus, Hendricks said, Marble Falls is an economic and retail hub for the area, and the improvements bolster those aspects as well.

editor@thepicayune.com