Drive past West Johnson Street at Central Avenue this week and you will see a trench where a street used to be. Staunton resident Aaron Barmer has been documenting the excavation since Tuesday night, and he shared images and notes with The Stauntonian.
According to Barmer, crews from Miller Pipeline have been installing valves in a city water main that will run beneath Johnson Street, parallel to the roadway. Valves sound minor. They are the part that lets the city shut off one stretch of pipe for repairs without cutting service to everyone around it.
The dig belongs to the city’s Downtown Tunnel Repairs project, which is replacing aging stormwater tunnels that carry Lewis Creek and Gum Spring Branch under Byers Street, West Johnson Street, and New Street. Engineers found the tunnels could no longer safely carry heavy loads, and the city restricted traffic over them in March 2025. The repairs work from the road surface down, so the pipes and cables sharing that ground have to move first. The city’s project page lists relocation of gas, water, sewer, and electric utilities as part of the job.
The Johnson Street tunnel crowds those utilities. Augusta Free Press reported that two 8-inch gas lines and a 10-inch water main run along the ceiling of the tunnel there, which makes a new main set beside the work a sensible fit.
Phase two began the week of September 28, when the project shifted from Byers Street to West Johnson. Johnson Street is closed westbound at Augusta Street and eastbound just past the Johnson Street Parking Garage entrance. The open stretch between Central Avenue and Augusta Street runs one way eastbound, Byers Street serves as a one-way eastbound detour from Lewis Street, and Central Avenue stays open to cars. Pedestrians can still reach The Wharf from Central Avenue and the garage entrance, and parking in the Wharf lot and the garage remains free.
City communications manager Josh Knight told WHSV that downtown remains fully accessible, and that the city has updated Google, Apple, and Waze with the detours. Updated maps and parking options sit on the city’s tunnel repairs page. The Johnson Street phase is scheduled to wrap in April 2027, and New Street follows, with completion planned for late spring.