Marion's Central Corridor First Phase - Signed, Sealed, Delivered

It's been a long time coming but the first phase of major road project that will improve travel in Marion is complete.

Business and city leaders gathered to celebrate on Friday afternoon with a ceremonial ribbon cutting at City Square Park before Christmas in the Park and the Peppermint Walk

The first phase includes a multi-use path, infrastructure updates, streetscaping and reconstruction of Sixth Avenue between Eighth Street to 13th Street. It also kept an historic feel to the heart of the community with red brick streets around the park. The cost was about $2.7 million.

In its entirety, the Central Corridor Project includes parts of Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Avenues from First Street to 35th Street. The project is supposed to redevelop downtown so it is more friendly for pedestrians and has more room for housing and business.

The remainder of the Central Corridor Project could take 10 years to complete and thus far no money has been set aside, the the Gazette reports. Further phases could be included as part of private development, the newspaper reported.