Tyler, Then and Now
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2025: The downtown rebuild

A $25.6 million city-county rebuild of downtown’s streets, utilities and square.

Rebuilding now· 2025–2028

$25.6M city-county rebuild of downtown streets, utilities and square10

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What the sources put on the map by 2026, over today’s streets.Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

The record

  1. November 8, 2022

    A $179 million bond for a new Smith County courthouse downtown passes with 53.73% of the vote. The county plans to move in and demolish the current courthouse by fall 2027.1

  2. August 15, 2024

    Smith County breaks ground on its new courthouse, after demolition of buildings on East Erwin Street and Fannin and Spring avenues began that July. It is expected to open at the end of 2026.23

  3. November 12, 2024

    The free, five-story, 543-space Smith County Parking Garage opens at 210 East Ferguson Street, paid for with $19 million of the courthouse bond.4

  4. July 8, 2025

    The $25.6 million Downtown Improvement Project, built by The Fain Group of Fort Worth, has two phases: Phase I rebuilds Erwin Street, Broadway Avenue, Ferguson Street and College Avenue with water and sewer lines; Phase II builds new green space on the west side of the square.5

  5. September 2025

    The Downtown Improvement Project begins. It converts the streets around the square to two-way traffic and rebuilds the square with green space and restrooms.6

  6. September 2025

    Crews take up every brick on College Avenue between Ferguson and Erwin streets, palletize them and store them.7

  7. March 2, 2026

    Bricks saved from the streets go back down on College Avenue in front of Plaza Tower.8

  8. May 2026

    Phase I, covering Erwin Street, Broadway Avenue, Ferguson Street and College Avenue, finishes.6

  9. August 2026

    The city’s engineering director says underground work on College Avenue and Ferguson Street is largely done, that roadway work will move next to Broadway starting near Locust Street, and that two-way traffic will return to the west side of the square.9

  10. Week of September 7, 2026

    North Broadway work begins, after Labor Day.6

  11. By May 2027expected

    Green space on the square is due.6

  12. From November 2027expected

    Roundabouts on South Broadway are to start.6

  13. By April 2028expected

    The whole project is now expected to finish, by news reports; the state’s registration of the project lists November 30, 2028. Completion dates have moved before.1011

A picture

Brick paving and storefronts on the downtown square
Brick paving and storefronts on the square, March 2016, before the rebuild.Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), via FlickrPaul Sableman

Notes

  1. Smith County: Courthouse planning (smith-county.com); KLTV, 2026-03-23: Dome Installed Overnight New Smith County Courthouse Marking Key Progress Project (kltv.com); KLTV, 2025-11-19: New Smith County Courthouse Build Reaches Halfway Point (kltv.com). Research notes

  2. Smith County, Courthouse Planning (including 'The Story of Our Courthouses') (smith-county.com). Research notes

  3. Tyler Morning Telegraph, 2026-06-10: Downtown Tyler's New Look Starts to Take Shape with Project Completion Expected in 2028 (tylerpaper.com); Tyler Morning Telegraph, 2026-09-07: Tyler's Downtown Improvement Project Work Shifts to Broadway Avenue (tylerpaper.com); Smith County: Courthouse planning (smith-county.com); KLTV, 2026-03-23: Dome Installed Overnight New Smith County Courthouse Marking Key Progress Project (kltv.com); KLTV, 2025-11-19: New Smith County Courthouse Build Reaches Halfway Point (kltv.com). The opening is an expectation; sources say end of 2026, December 2026 or late 2026. Re-check. Research notes

  4. Smith County, Courthouse Planning (including 'The Story of Our Courthouses') (smith-county.com). Research notes

  5. KLTV, Tyler City Council approves $25.6M downtown improvement project (July 8, 2025) (kltv.com). Research notes

  6. Tyler Morning Telegraph, 2026-04-29: Tyler Mayor Don Warren Discusses Downtown Project Timeline Funding and Businesses on the Square (tylerpaper.com); Tyler Morning Telegraph, 2026-09-07: Tyler's Downtown Improvement Project Work Shifts to Broadway Avenue (tylerpaper.com); KLTV, 2026-03-02: Downtown Tyler Improvements Continue Bricks Returned College Avenue (kltv.com). Research notes

  7. Tyler Morning Telegraph, 2025-09-17: Crews Remove Historic Bricks on College Avenue to Make Way for Infrastructure Work in Downtown Tyler (tylerpaper.com). Research notes

  8. KLTV, 2026-03-02: Downtown Tyler Improvements Continue Bricks Returned College Avenue (kltv.com); KLTV, 2026-03-18: City Tyler Holds Open House Downtown Improvement Project (kltv.com); Tyler Morning Telegraph, 2026-03-18: City of Tyler Hosts Open Houses for Updates on the Downtown Improvement Project (tylerpaper.com). Research notes

  9. KLTV, Downtown Tyler construction moves into next phase, city engineer says (Aug. 20, 2026) (kltv.com). Research notes

  10. Tyler Morning Telegraph, 2026-06-10: Downtown Tyler's New Look Starts to Take Shape with Project Completion Expected in 2028 (tylerpaper.com); Tyler Morning Telegraph, 2026-09-07: Tyler's Downtown Improvement Project Work Shifts to Broadway Avenue (tylerpaper.com); Tyler Morning Telegraph, 2026-04-29: Tyler Mayor Don Warren Discusses Downtown Project Timeline Funding and Businesses on the Square (tylerpaper.com); KLTV, 2026-03-02: Downtown Tyler Improvements Continue Bricks Returned College Avenue (kltv.com). Status as of September 2026. Completion dates have moved, so re-check before reuse. Research notes

  11. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, TABS2025010690, Downtown Tyler Improvements (Infrastructure) (tdlr.texas.gov). Existing facts (Tyler Morning Telegraph, KLTV) give an expected finish by April 2028; the state registration lists November 30, 2028. Research notes

About this plate

  • The streets on the map are the four named in Phase I, as OpenStreetMap draws them within about 300 m of Tyler City Square. The project’s exact limits are not in our sources.
  • Dates after September 2026 are expectations from news reports and the state’s registration, not records.
  • The faint numbered tiles are the 1847 plat, drawn as a schematic: the sources give 28 blocks around a central square, not where they stood.
  • The faint linework is today’s map, from OpenStreetMap. How the map is made.