A stalled project to revitalize Bastrop’s historic Main Street is gathering steam after the Bastrop City Council voted Tuesday night to start preliminary engineering work on the improvements downtown.

Council members awarded a $73,370 contract to MWM Design Group to begin designing plans to widen the sidewalks on Main Street and remill the roadway between Pine and Farm streets.

The preliminary work part of the Main Street Improvement Project was funded by the Bastrop Economic Development Corp. in 2013 at a cost of nearly $1 million but was delayed for years.

"It’s time to do something," Public Works Director Trey Job said. "I don’t want it to sit on the books any longer."

As part of the project, crews will replace a water line from Pine to Chestnut Street, repave the road with asphalt and widen sidewalks about 4 feet. With the additional space, shop owners would be able to put out signs, tables and chairs and still meet American Disability Act requirements, Job said.

The Main Street Design Committee will help engineers settle on a final look that fits with the downtown district.

"Each building has its own architectural style," Main Street Director Sarah O’Brien said. "The sidewalks will fit into each building since each has different setbacks. It will be done piece by piece to fit each building."

Construction is not expected to begin for at least a year, Job said.

In the meantime, the city will have to obtain easements from a handful of private property owners on Main Street, who split ownership of the sidewalks with the city.

About 68 percent of property owners have already granted easements, officials said. The goal, at the start of the project, was 75 percent.

Job said hitting that mark was difficult since the city didn’t have specific design plans and owners were hesitant to grant use of their sidewalks without seeing a scope of work.

The design sketches from MWM group should help solve that problem, he said. Engineers will work with private property owners over the next six months to plan the project.

Downtown parking

Construction crews will begin work on several planned parking projects downtown, including an overhaul of the Water Street lot that will have 17 additional spaces and is expected to break ground in January.

Parking, since it has presented continual problems downtown, was pushed as a top priority.

Council Member Gary Schiff Tuesday night suggested enacting a 3-hour parking limit downtown.

"There are lots of business owners and business workers, employees who park their vehicles on Main Street and leave them there for 8 hours or longer at a time," Schiff said. "I am proposing that we reactivate a time limit."

Currently, the city code limits parking downtown to two hours, but officials stopped enforcing the measure last year due to planned construction on Chestnut Street and Texas 71.

But Schiff said he has continued to hear complaints from visitors about downtown parking and sees the same cars parked in spots for hours at a time as Main Street businesses lose traffic and profits.

He suggested the city manager and public safety director craft a new ordinance to reinstate the parking time limit on Main Street from Pine Street to Farm Street, bumping it up to three hours. Volunteers could help enforce the parking limit, officials said, which is expected to return to the council for approval on Jan. 10.

In addition to the road work and parking upgrades, several downtown buildings have undergone structural improvements, including the property at 1008 Main St. The largest single-story building in the historic corridor, it now has a new roof, raised ceilings and a renovated facade. The Bastrop Property Group, with the assistance of the Bastrop Economic Development Corp. and the Main Street Program, is currently looking for tenants for the property.