DUBLIN, Ga. — In Dublin, the city has big plans for road improvement after they received a Community Development Block Grant for $939,537.
They said they plan to use the money for storm drainage and street condition improvements on West Mary Street.
Louis Marion works at Little Night Owl Childcare Services on West Mary Street, and said it floods a lot when it rains.
"Really bad, really bad, like big, big puddles," Marion said.
She said the flooding's been so bad in the past that part of their driveway caved in.
"It's a problem when the parents come in, trying to get the children in cause they have to waddle through the puddle of water," Marion said.
She said it's also terrible for children, who get soaked in the rain waiting for the bus, or walking home.
Dublin Mayor Joshua Kight said it's a problem they won't have to deal with much longer.
"Anytime you try to improve a neighborhood, the most expensive part of it is the infrastructure work, the underground work that you often times don't even see," Kight said.
He said they've known about the problem for years, but couldn't afford to fix it until they got this grant.
The biggest thing they plan to do with it, is add a new storm drainage system.
"It's gonna increase the quality of life for people who live in that neighborhood, and it's also going to increase the property values of the homes that are along that street, because they're not gonna suffer from the storm water problems anymore," Kight said.
They plan on using the rest of the funds to make it safer to walk through, and easier on the tires.
"There will be a sidewalk, at least on one side of the street, it will probably be just on one side of the street. The street itself will be resurfaced," Kight said.
And since West Mary Streets connects to other streets in town, he said you can see improvements on those streets too.
"This grant is going to be to make sure that that storm water that's coming out of Moore street, Church street, and West Mary street, that it all is going to flow to the east, towards the Oconee River," Kight said.
Because the city just received the grant, Kight said they don't yet have a timeline for the road improvements, but they hope to start as soon as possible.