staugcityA public session will be hosted tomorrow by Vice Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline to discuss how to get proposed improvements on King Street back on schedule – and funded – after businesses halted a start two years ago, protesting a yearlong traffic disruption.

“Should the project move forward, the earliest it could begin would be in 2017,” says Sikes-Kline, who will meet with merchants and residents at Markland House tomorrow 5:30 to 6:30 pm.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) redirected project funding after the start was called off. The scheduled project would have included drainage and roadway improvements along King from Malaga Street to Markland Place.

“At the request of the King Street businesses, the City has asked FDOT for estimates on items above and beyond the cost of the drainage and roadway improvements (FDOT is responsible for),” Sikes-Kline says. “These items include the undergrounding of utilities, decorative street lighting and other upgrades.
“These additional costs are estimated to be at least $1.5 million,” she said.

 

Source: St. Augustine Report