The opening of the new Katy City Hall June 10 is only the beginning of a massive transformation of the city’s downtown area.

Construction on a multi-phase project will eventually transform the traffic flow on several downtown streets, said Kayce Reina, director of tourism and marketing for Katy. The directional change is expected to take effect in September.

In addition to the street changes, Reina said two of the four buildings at the site of the former City Administration complex at 901 Avenue C will eventually be demolished.

“Once we move to the new City Hall, parts of the existing building will be demolished and made into a downtown plaza,” Reina said. “The permits office and administrative offices would be [demolished].”

Reina said the existing City Council Chambers and an annex building housing the Parks and Recreation Department will be kept and utilized. The council chambers may become a public meeting space and the annex building is expected to be repurposed into a visitor’s center, Reina said.

However, the plans for the downtown plaza are still in the early stages and a final design has not been chosen. A committee composed of business owners and local residents is meeting on a monthly basis to discuss plans for the project.

There is no tentative starting date or cost estimate for the downtown plaza project, Reina said.

The streets project will be conducted in in two phases. Phase 1 of the project is estimated to cost slightly more than $1 million, and will be focused on the segment of Avenue C between Second and Third streets as well as a segment of Second Street between Avenues B and C, Reina said.

No cost has been estimated for Phase 2 of the project.

Phase 1 construction is set to commence immediately following the City Hall grand opening ceremony in mid-June, Reina said.

“Obviously, they will do the work in sections during each [period] so access is maintained for the businesses,” Reina said. “The conversion to one-way streets will be done during the [second period], which we project to be in September.”

Once the project is completed, Third Street will become a one-way street from Avenue D to East Street with traffic flowing from west to east. There will be three-way stop signs on Third Street at the Avenues A, B and C intersections.

Second Street will also become a one-way street from Avenue D to East Street, with traffic flowing from east to west. There will be three-way stop signs along Second Street at the Avenue A, B and C intersections.

Traffic on Avenues A, B and C will continue to travel in both directions. Stop signs will be placed at the intersections of Second Street and Avenue D as well as Third Street and East Street.

The project also includes a new parking alignment that will more than double the number of parking spaces in the downtown area.