HIGH POINT — The city of High Point plans to begin a capital project this spring that will clear the way for overhead utilities to be placed underground in the Washington Street Historic District.
The City Council has awarded a $2.07 million contract to Carolina Conduit Systems to install an underground duct bank system to accommodate the utility conversions along the portion of Washington Street between N. Centennial Street and Washington Street Park.
The city has long targeted this part of the street — which served as the heart of the city’s Black community during the era of segregation — for revitalization.
After being petitioned by property owners, the city in 2023 designated it a local historic district, and Business High Point is working on a new initiative to support minority entrepreneurs on Washington Street.
City officials expect Carolina Conduit Systems — a general contractor based in Garner — to start duct bank construction in May and take about six months to complete it, said Engineering and Facilities Director Trevor Spencer.
Once this is done, High Point Electric and private utilities will each be responsible for converting their respective overhead lines to underground in the district.
“We have been meeting regularly with the private utilities to keep them updated on the project timeline,” Spencer said. “The city’s goal is to facilitate a timely underground conversion so the existing poles can be removed as soon as practicable.”
He said the street will remain open to two-way traffic during construction.
The council last year OK’d the undergrounding to supplement a 2015 streetscape project in the district in which the city put in new sidewalks, lighting and other improvements and replaced underground infrastructure.
The upcoming undergrounding work is separate from the city’s realignment of the part of Washington Street away from the railroad slope in front of Penn-Griffin School for the Arts that was completed last summer.