At the Thursday Sept. 21 meeting of the Bayfront Advisory Commission, we heard from Bill Purcell and Jason Wilson , Public Works Transportation Program and Project Management for a Shore Drive CIP (Capital Improvement Project) updates. There will be public information meetings about the Pleasure House Road Phase I and II projects in mid November which will bring street and safety improvements to Pleasure House Road: sidewalks, curb, gutter and drainage improvements north and south of Shore Dr.
There was news about the temporary (!) sidewalk project which will include ADA compliant sidewalks and curb ramps (concrete). The ‘sidewalks’ will be on both sides of Shore Dr. and consist of asphalt in places and when crossing parking lots will consist of striping. The expected cost is $2.0 million. There is $1.4 million available which can fund the design and site acquisition. Design and preliminary work will take 6-12 months and construction might begin in July of 2024. Mr. Jason Wilson acknowledged that it might be 20 years until Phase IV is implemented so these ‘temporary sidewalks’ may be in place for a long time. Councilman Schulman pledged to work towards moving up the timeline for this project.
The Draft Engineering Plan for Shore Drive Phase IV (west of the Lesner Bridge in Ocean Park) is under review and will most likely be approved this month. Shore Drive Phase IV was defunded in last year’s budget and monies were diverted to Phase III. The original contract for Phase IV was signed in 2008 and has been delayed and funding diverted multiple times.
Questions about how actively the city is pursuing federal funding for Phase IV have come up at the last BAC meeting and again this month. Mr. Wilson reported that in the Public Works Dept the Project Support Group is the entity that actively pursues grants and that at least one was being applied for.
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Ocean Park Civic League 
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