The Creeks Along Maple Street Are Behind the Wharf's Next Big Decision

Byers Street reopened to traffic the week of September 28. It had been closed to through traffic since March 2025, and it now runs one way eastbound from Lewis Street to Johnson Street. The same week, West Johnson Street closed in front of part of the Johnson Street Parking Garage. That stretch is scheduled to stay closed until spring 2027.

The street work is the part of the Wharf story you can see. The longer-running part is happening under the parking lot. In August, City Council saw three options for that lot. Two of them would open the buried creeks to the air and remove a large share of the parking. Those are the same two streams that border Tannehill-Wheat at Maple Street.

Where the Water Starts

The Historic Staunton Foundation describes Tannehill/Wheat as the area west of Bridge Street, between the railroad tracks to the north and Maple Street to the south. It says two major streams helped shape how the neighborhood's streets and buildings are laid out. A January 2026 agenda from the Lewis Creek Watershed Advisory Committee names them. It places Buttermilk Spring, also called Peyton's Creek, on the north side of Maple Street and Lewis Creek on the south side.

Downtown, both streams go underground. City Council minutes name Lewis Creek and Gum Spring Branch, also called Peyton Creek, as the two streams that pass beneath the Wharf. The water flowing past the Maple Street blocks is the same water running through the tunnels that crews are now rebuilding.

The size difference is the clearest way to picture what daylighting would mean. The study's drawings show the Peyton Creek tunnel at 19.6 feet wide and the Lewis Creek tunnel at 25 feet. The open-channel concept drawn for the same spot is 88.2 feet wide, with a normal stream width of 37 feet.

What Reopened This Week, and What Closed

The repair project is a $4.62 million effort that runs from February 2026 through spring 2027. It covers three tunnel sections that sit under streets.

If you drive into downtown from the west side, here are the detours in effect for the Johnson Street phase:

1. Westbound: north on Augusta Street, west on Frederick Street, then south on Lewis Street to rejoin Johnson Street.
2. Eastbound: south on Lewis Street, east on Byers Street, then back onto Johnson Street.
3. Trucks: north to Churchville Avenue or south to Hampton Street.
4. The open section of Johnson Street between Central Avenue and Augusta Street now runs one way eastbound.

Both car detours use Lewis Street. The city also expects downtown to have about 25 more open parking spaces during this phase than during the Byers Street phase, because Byers Street and the eastern lot reopened before the Johnson Street digging began. Parking in the Wharf lot and the Johnson Street Garage remains free for now.

The Johnson Street phase is the most complex of the three. Crews are removing four trees on the west side of the Wharf along Johnson Street. They will relocate two gas lines, two sewer mains, and a water main, then clear a large amount of debris that has built up at a bottleneck in the tunnel. Once the tunnel is rebuilt, the plan calls for new pavement, new sidewalks, and younger trees in place of the four that came down.

Why the Lot Is a Separate Question

The repairs cover only the tunnel sections under active streets. The city says that focus lets it avoid spending money on parking-lot tunnels that a later project might change. Weak sections under the Wharf parking lot have been closed to vehicles since March 2025. The city says any future work there, including daylighting, will be planned separately with extensive public engagement.

The city hired the engineering firm Wiley|Wilson for that separate study. A September 2025 Council work session pointed the study toward natural-channel daylighting. The revised scope dropped the concrete-channel options and added a comparison of long-term maintenance costs for an enclosed tunnel versus an open channel. That brought the study fee to about $159,000.

Wiley|Wilson presented the study to Council on August 13, 2026. It set out three scenarios for a lot that holds 180 spaces today:

• Scenario 1: replace the tunnel and restore the parking lot.
• Scenario 2: daylight part of the tunnel and keep 85 spaces.
• Scenario 3: daylight the tunnel within the Wharf lot and keep 35 spaces.

Under both daylighting scenarios, the parallel parking along Byers Street would stay as it is. The study's summary states the tradeoff in plain terms: daylighting can lower construction cost, but the city loses parking.

What Council Heard on August 13

Residents spoke during the public comment period that night. According to the minutes, Randolph Bertin said that partially daylighting the Wharf to save parking would not bring more visitors downtown, and he pointed to Mill Creek as evidence. He asked Council for a comprehensive public engagement process. He also said Staunton does not have a parking problem but a walking problem. Johan Westenburg agreed with him and pointed to Yonkers, New York, which has daylighted some of its waterways.

Four days later, the Staunton News Leader reported that daylighting the Wharf lot seemed more likely than it had before that meeting. As of October 1, Council has not picked a scenario and no final report has come out.

The Walk In This Fall

Every business in the work zone remains open, and the city is keeping pedestrian access to the Wharf open through each phase. During the Johnson Street phase, the walkway runs along the western side of the work zone, from Johnson Street into the Wharf lot. These places are listed or operating around the Byers Street and Middlebrook Avenue end of the Wharf:

• Byers Street Bistro, 18 Byers Street, which lists daily hours on its site.
• Belle & Me Sew Vintage, 6 Byers Street.
• The Babe Cave, a salon at 240 N. Central Avenue, Suite B.
• Pour Decisions Winery, 18 E. Johnson Street, which opened downtown in 2026.
• The Depot Grille, inside the historic train depot at 42 Middlebrook Avenue.
• The Junction Bar and Lounge, 40 Middlebrook Avenue, open Thursday through Saturday.
• Redbeard Brewing, 120 South Lewis Street.

Byers Street is also where the creek work becomes visible. The old steel tube railing along the street over the creek is being replaced with an Essex green bridge guardrail like the one on Mill Street, plus an ornamental fence above the creek banks. For now, that railing is the closest look at the open creek you can get in the Wharf.

Where the Saturday Market Went

The Staunton Farmers Market had operated at the Wharf since 1993. For the 2026 season it moved to the parking lot of the Staunton Juvenile & Domestic Relations Courthouse. The city described the move as temporary until the tunnel work wraps up, which was then expected in spring 2027. Market manager Rachel Wine described the change in an April report by WHSV:

"Wharf is a really beloved area of downtown for locals as well as tourists, and so it's hard. I think some folks are nervous about the livelihoods of their businesses because it's such a big change, and that's totally reasonable and fair. Some people are definitely excited by the opportunity of being in a new space."

The market moved because of the street repairs, and those are due to finish in spring 2027. What it returns to is a separate question. That depends on which of the three scenarios Council picks: a lot with 180 spaces, 85 spaces, or 35 spaces around an open stream. The city's project page at staunton.va.us/tunnelrepairs posts the current detours and is the place to watch for the next public step on daylighting.

If you're wondering how a decision about the Wharf could shape the streets around your own home, Nest Realty - Shenandoah Valley keeps up with Staunton's public projects so you have clear, honest answers whenever you're ready to talk.