STUART, Fla. — Today, the city of Stuart met with downtown businesses about a multi-million dollar project to move power lines underground in effort to make the power grid more resilient to severe storms.
Right now, sidewalks along downtown Stuart are crowded with power poles, so business owners in the area are happy with the makeover.
"One of the big things that we’re excited about is getting the utility lines buried back here," Bill Moore, owner of Kilwins in downtown Stuart, said.
Moore says he's spent years asking the city to run power underground.
"We’re excited to see this cleaned up and this street become more functional and walkable," Moore said.
The city told WPTV Reporter Cassandra Garcia that the project won’t just impact the look.
“We’re going to increase our reliability, reduce power outages downtown,” Stuart Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Director Pinal Gandhi-Savdas said.
Business owners recalled the impacts of Hurricane Milton last month.
“I think this last hurricane we were closed for three days I believe, so that's three zeros, so that's no fun at all,” said Ron Hart, owner of The Dirty Hippie in Downtown Stuart.
Part of the project will also include streetscaping on Seminole Street.
The project will cost 9.7 million dollars, funded from money that’s coming from both grants and the CRA's budget.
Work will begin in March and continue through November 2027.
The city says the more complex work will be done in the off-season.
“Along Osceola Street, we’re going to be working in quadrants by sections," Gandhi-Savdas said. "We’ll only close off certain sidewalks and a certain number of on-street parking."
Businesses are hoping it’ll mean minimal impact on foot traffic.
“All merchants are concerned about the street being under construction and parking spaces being taken away," said Moore. "But I think it’s long overdue.”
Most downtown businesses feel it’s what’s best for downtown long term.
“Beautiful things attract beautiful people,” said Hart.
