Traffic in downtown Jonesboro back to normal

After months of deconstruction and then reconstruction, the normal pedestrian and vehicle traffic flow has resumed in downtown Jonesboro.

The traffic light at the confluence of Main Street and Washington Street had been shut down for months while crews demolished the former Citizens Bank building.

After the demolition was complete, it took crews six weeks to rebuild the sidewalks, roads, back fill the bank site and cover it with sod and reinstall the traffic light.

Traffic leading into the downtown’s main artery was relatively light on Wednesday (May 14) as motorists had to find alternate routes since the beginning of the year.

The bank building was once the tallest in the city and a revered meeting hub for politicians, civic and business leaders.

The 70-year-old building has been an eyesore for the downtown area for many years, however, and its owners have been in litigation over what to do with the building. Projects have been proposed through the years, but none came to fruition. It had been unoccupied for decades.

The Jonesboro City Council unanimously voted to condemn the structure in December after structural engineers determined the building to be unsafe. A bulge on one side of the building prompted the inspection.