They just broke ground on the plaza development that will reshape the busiest intersection in Athens. The College Avenue area between East Clayton and East Broad (directly across from the Arch) is turning into a plaza, which is probably long overdue since the strip of road is virtually useless for parking or driving because of all the foot traffic.

That’s the only image of it, but that looks like some form of stage there so I’m guessing some outdoor concerts might actually cause the homeless musicians to move down the street some. I keed, I keed. Seriously, though, the schematic below looks different from the rendering above, so your guess is as good as mine.

There’s more details that you can find at the College Square renovation website, which has the phases of construction and the purpose of the project, which is in Ten Phases and set to be completed by September of 2026. It will expand space in the area for seating and, apparently, meeting areas (?) which isn’t a horrible thing, although it might just be expanded seating for people waiting in line to get in to The Grill after ball games.

Here’s another image, that seems to show the work is underway and it’s getting real.

From what I can tell, it seems it’s scheduled to be ready before kickoff next year.