Macon Mayor Robert Reichert makes a special presentation to City Council unveiling the plan for the Second Street Transformation.

"So I'm very enthusiastic about it and I think it sets out a great first step to realize the full potential of the Second Street, Little Richard Penniman Corridor." -Mayor Reichert/Macon Mayor

The plan would turn Second Street into a gateway connecting Little Richard Penniman Boulevard to Gray Highway. Improvements between those two points would include bicycle lanes, green space, and a new streetcar system.

But despite the scale of the plan, there are some on council who said the plan doesn't go far enough. One specific example was Second Street itself. The planned improvements follow Second Street from downtown to Mercer's campus, then follows Mercer University Drive to the interstate, rather than continue along Second Street to Eisenhower.

"I think that's a sad commentary when the whole project is billed as the Second Street Connector and people were thinking they were connecting Eisenhower Parkway to downtown, and not some other part of town." -Dr. Henry Ficklin/Macon City Council

"We can't wave a magic wand and do the whole city at one time, but this is a wonderful start because whether you live on the northside or the southside or the eastside or the westside its everybody's downtown. And Downtown represents our history, our heritage. It is a sense of place that we have there. It's everybody's downtown. So if we can redevelop downtown I think that'll be the spark that ignites the redevelopment down the corridor." -Robert Reichert/Macon Mayor

A TAD, or Tax Allocation District is already in place for some of the funding and a part of the project was included in the recently passed SPLOST.