By Jennifer Dorning
January 10, 2019
The Venice Beautification Project is moving forward in full force! Over the holidays the contractor opened all areas of downtown while the crews took a much-needed break and spent time with their families.
Crews continue installing landscaping and pavers on West Venice and Miami Avenues with the streets and sidewalks open. Some single lane closures may be needed for crews to safely do this work. All the major parking lots are open and on-street parking not effected by the current work is open. For now, the majority of streets received only one layer of asphalt due to heavy equipment and trucks that still need to drive on it, which could cause damage. At the end of the project, the contractor will return to install the final layer of asphalt on all streets except for eastbound West Venice Avenue which was paved with full depth asphalt.
Last week work began on the 200 and 300 blocks of Tampa Avenue (between Nokomis Ave. and Harbor Dr.) and Nassau Street (north of W. Venice Ave.). Tampa Avenue is currently closed from St. Augustine Street to Nassau Street and is open to LOCAL TRAFFIC ONLY from Nassau Street to Harbor Drive to allow access to the post office and business parking. To complete the work on Tampa Avenue, scheduled for January 16th, St. Augustine Avenue will temporarily return to a two-way street so that customers can access the KMI Building/Venice Centre Mall from the parking lot on St. Augustine Avenue. Harbor Drive will remain open throughout the project.
The contractor will be completing underground drainage work on Nassau Street and Tampa Avenue. No trees are anticipated to be removed from Tampa Avenue at this time. Additional trees are scheduled to be planted to complement the existing trees. Pavers will be added on the 200 block and the sidewalks will be replaced. Crews will also install irrigation and electrical conduit on Tampa Avenue.
On January 3, 2019 a third public meeting was held for this project to provide a project update and to discuss the planned sequence of work for Tampa Avenue. The construction team met with property owners and/or their representatives on Tampa Avenue to discuss individual needs and to coordinate access. The anticipated completion for this work is March 2019. The downtown businesses are open and accessible and there is plenty of parking so please support them. If you have project questions, please contact Jennifer Dorning, Project Public Information Officer at Jennifer.Dorning@atkinsglobal.com or at (239) 338-7723.
