Pearl Alley progress
$9.9 million downtown project advances; Sidewalks could be complete in June
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This was the view of the new Pearl Alley between Commerce and Market streets in downtown Clinton on Monday morning, as concrete paving has been completed about a third of the distance from Market Street. - G. Chambers Williams III
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This was the view of Market Street from the east on Monday morning as work continues on major street and sidewalk improvements to the city’s busiest commercial corridor. - G. Chambers Williams III
While construction continues this week on the concrete sidewalks along Market Street and the new Pearl Alley walkway between Commerce and Market streets, predictions from city and Historic Downtown Clinton officials are that most of the work will be finished in early June.
This week, Main Street is closed to traffic from Church to Kincaid streets as workers continue laying lateral sewer lines from Main Street buildings to the new main sewer line running down the middle of the street.
Pearl Alley paving, which began about three weeks ago, is now about one-third finished, but no progress has been seen for about two weeks on the rest of the concrete poring, on the Commerce Street side.
The new sidewalks on Market Street are nearly finished, along with some of the planters and other elements.
Still to come is the installation of irrigation and light posts, and planting of trees and shrubs all along Market.
About 200 trees and plants will be put into the planters along the newly poured sidewalks, said Katherine Birkbeck, executive director of Historic Downtown Clinton.
Pearl Alley, when completed, will serve as a convenient walkway between the Commerce Street parking lot and Market Street.
It will come out on Market between Burrville Antiques and Healthy Visions, and will serve as a main entrance to Market, Birkbeck said.
Still to come will be the complete repaving of Market Street itself, will be after the lampposts are completed, Birkbeck said, “probably starting in mid-May.”
All of the sidewalks will be ready for the spring Clinch River Antique Festival May 1-2, and even though Market Street won’t yet be paved, street vendors will be using it during the festival, she said.
Clinton City Manager Roger Houck said Main Street will continue to be shut down to traffic approximately one block at a time “through the first of June” as workers install about 35 sewer lines from businesses along the street to the new sewer line.
Downtown merchants continue to remain optimistic about their businesses and the future as work gets closer to completion on the major upgrades to Market Street, which has been closed to traffic for extensive reconstruction since March 2025.
New asphalt laid on Broad, Main, Market, Commerce and Cullom streets, Houck said.
“We also hope to put new asphalt on the public parking lot on Commerce Street,” he said earlier.
“There’s just a lot of small stuff that’s got to be done,” he said. “As for broadband (Wi-Fi) for downtown, the conduit is already in for it.”
When that’s installed and up and running, there will be free Wi-Fi available all over the downtown business district, according to plans.
Even with the design changes to the street and sidewalks, Houck said there will still be on-street parking available on Market Street, and that some on-street parking also is being added to Cullom Street.
All of the work is part of a $9.9 million project that began in February 2025, and was expected to last for about 17 months, in the historic area of downtown Clinton.
It includes new water and sewer lines, along with the new sidewalks and landscaping.
