South Chicago Street in Foley has reopened with brick pavers and columns now marking its entrance as part of a broader downtown improvement effort tied to the city’s expanding civic campus.

Crews from the Foley Public Works Department and Horticulture Department completed work last week, planting trees along the corridor between U.S. 98 and the site of the city’s new public library and community center now under construction.

The project adds pedestrian walkways, green spaces and additional street trees as part of a streetscape redesign intended to calm traffic and improve connectivity in the downtown area.

The new entrance features brick pavers and columns that mirror recent upgrades on the north end of Chicago Street near Heritage Park. That earlier phase, known as the North Chicago Street project, included the extension of East Jessamine Avenue and a new gateway into Heritage Park and opened in May 2025.

City officials say the South Chicago Street improvements are designed to create a continuous corridor linking U.S. 98 to the future library site. Decorative lighting for the project was installed by Riviera Utilities.

The new Foley Public Library is scheduled to open in the summer. It will include about 40,000 square feet of space, roughly twice the size of the current facility, and is expected to serve as a central hub for community programming and services once completed.