DUBLIN, Ga. — Dublin's Stubbs Park is getting a major makeover, and the park's transportation expansion first on the list.
The work started about a year ago. The expansion includes a $4.5 million traffic project that is paid through a regional transportation sales tax.
Soon, this roundabout that the city of Dublin is putting in, will be filled with ornamental trees helping to beautify Stubbs Park.
Miles Cason is the Project Superintendent.
"In the very center then, they will be lined with some smaller bushes and a little ring of sod and some pine straw," Cason said.
He says roundabouts are becoming more popular.
"They seem to move a lot of traffic. Everywhere we go they seem to work. The municipalities we do them for are very happy with them," Cason said.
There will be two new roundabouts: one at Moore Street and Claxton Dairy Road and the other at Woodrow Avenue, and North Calhoun street.
Also coming to the area is a new sidewalk at a now closed section on Elm Street near the Stubbs park gymnasium and the former Dublin Middle School site.
"It's all about quality of life, and it's about making Dublin a place where our kids want to come back and live," Dublin's Engineering Director Matthew Bradshaw said.
He says roundabouts are safer than a traffic signal. In the past, the city had safety concerns at Moore Street and Claxton Dairy Road.
"With a roundabout everybody entering the intersection has to slow down. With a traffic signal if someone has the green light, they're going the speed limit," Bradshaw said.
Now, when you head to Stubbs Park, your ride should be much smoother.
"I think it really opens up more access for people to use the park. Either from the original side or the new side. There's multiple places you can get into it now," Bradshaw said.
The next phase is expanding the existing Stubbs Park into the area the Dublin Middle School used to take up.
Bradshaw says the transportation project should be complete sometime in July of 2023.
This is just part of Dublin's master plan for its parks. They expect it will take five to 10 years, and they don't have a price tag yet for the entire project.