03/25/2026
Being near the square, we are grateful and excited to be in the midst of this project. We pray for its success and that God will use it to his glory!
Now that construction season is upon us, it seems like a good time for an update on the downtown construction project. We will do this in a fact 🙌 or fiction 🚫 approach.
🚫 FICTION: The project is running behind schedule…nope! As we announced back in 2024, the project is scheduled through October 2026. Last year was a lot of the underground work; this year is more at street level. Much of the street concrete put in was temporary and the final touches are happening this year.
🙌 FACT: Main Street will go two-way at the end of construction. The project was planned with Main St to serve downtown destination traffic. Diamond St (northbound) and Mulberry St (southbound) will be for thru traffic. And, yes - Main Street was two-way until the 1950’s.
🚫 FICTION: We are closing the Square permanently…nope! The cut-through of Park Avenue remains. We have an upcoming closure because we are removing the median and installing left-turn lanes for Main & Diamond as well as a mid-block crosswalk there.
🙌 FACT: Grants remain available for downtown businesses. 12 grants were awarded last year and Downtown Mansfield is ready to process more for impacted businesses.
🚫 FICTION: On street parking will go away on Main Street…nope! As you can see in the Carrousel District, street parking remains, and will throughout the corridor.
🙌 FACT: We are changing parking on the Square. With both Main Street & Diamond Street two-way, we want to ensure it is accessible from either direction.
We moved the timeline on this up, because of the closure of Main Street (between 3rd & Park Ave) and the Park Avenue closure coming next week (45 days - Diamond to Walnut). We needed to maintain access to businesses on the south side of the square.
Also, North Park Street will be converted in the coming months. This is all being done by our engineer’s office in accordance with traffic standards.
🚫 FICTION: The detour for the Park Ave West closure is North & South Park Street…nope! The detour will be 2nd Street and 3rd Street, and signage will be posted. The Square will still have parking access off Diamond St - not through traffic - during this closure.
🙌 FACT: You can start to see the final vision emerge. Drive down Main St from 6th, and you will see new lights, signal poles, brick crosswalks and more. It is changing every week at this point.
🙌 FACT: You will see flower baskets hanging on Main St this year in the Carrousel District.
🙌 FACT: You can watch a video that shows you what the project will look like here: MainStreetMansfield.com
🙌 FACT: You can stay updated on the project by following the City engineering webpage, signing up for text alerts, and following Downtown Mansfield, Inc. on Facebook.
🙌 FACT: The last time downtown had a massive infrastructure upgrade Ronald Reagan was President, MTV launched, IBM introduced the PC, and E.T. was a box office smash.
And the last time water mains were replaced in downtown? Women had just gained the right to vote, Prohibition was in effect, and the original Roaring Twenties had kicked off.
In other words, it’s been a long time since major upgrades.
We are building this to last for many more generations. 🤍
Mansfield - here, we grow!
