Downtown Venice construction schedule change to alleviate business concerns

VENICE — When work starts July 9 on the $8.3 million reconstruction of the core downtown streets of Miami, Venice and Tampa avenues, the first phase will now include the eastbound lanes of Venice Avenue between U.S. 41 business and Harbor Drive.

“The businesses are ecstatic,” said Nick Sperry, event and partnership coordinator for Venice MainStreet, who added that businesses will remain open throughout the project, with events scheduled to attract people to the area the entire time.

The decision, announced Friday, came after a Wednesday information meeting hosted by the city of Venice and members of the construction team from Quality Enterprises USA, Inc. Business owners on the south side of Venice Avenue had voiced concerns that the original construction schedule would mean that the road, and possibly the sidewalks, directly in front of their business would be closed at the beginning of season.

“The city heard the concerns of the downtown merchants about the proposed phasing schedule and Quality Enterprises USA, Inc., was able to modify the construction schedule to complete the eastbound West Venice Avenue travel lanes first to reduce the impacts to the businesses,” City Engineer Kathleen Weeden said in a prepared statement. She also noted that pedestrian pathways will be clearly marked and the parking lot at Centennial Park will remain open.

“That’s everything for all the east Venice Avenue businesses,” Sperry said. ”That helps them out.”

The project, now being called the “Downtown Beautification Project,” involves the repaving of Miami, Venice and Tampa avenues, stormwater and drainage improvements, sidewalk repair or replacement where needed, and installation of irrigation and new electrical conduit within the Venice avenue median.

Project spokeswoman Jennifer Dorning said work on the Venice Avenue median must be done as part of the initial phase because of drainage, so that will be done in concert with work on the eastbound side of Venice Avenue.

That first phase, 1A, means that the road will be closed from July through part of October.

Westbound Venice Avenue will be closed in phase 1B, which is now October through November.

Dorning said the goal is still to have westbound Venice Avenue available for the annual Venice Holiday Parade, which is scheduled for Nov. 24 this year.

Dorning stressed that either eastbound or westbound Venice Avenue will be subject to closure entirely; Miami and Tampa avenue will be closed in phases. That means an entire travel lane should not be closed for an extended period.

The westbound portion of Miami Avenue is scheduled to be closed in phases from August through October, with the eastbound side of the road scheduled for closure from September through November.

The westbound lane of Tampa Avenue is scheduled for phased closure in November through January 2019, while the eastbound lane is scheduled for phased closure in January and February 2019.

That timetable is subject to change, depending on weather and underground conditions.

Dorning said that because of the switch, there may be times when a portion of westbound Venice Avenue is closed while eastbound Venice Avenue is closed too.

“The main goal is to get this project done successfully, on time,” she said. “There may be some smaller closures involved, in order to make this happen.”