Traveling along downtown’s Depot Avenue will no longer be a hassle or a construction-heavy eye sore.
The $1.2 million construction project that has engulfed Depot Avenue between Southeast Third and Main streets for the past 17 months is wrapping up and will reopen to east and westbound traffic starting late Wednesday.
Workers have been reconstructing the avenue’s roadway, curbs, sidewalks, crosswalks and landscaping in conjunction with the Community Redevelopment Agency’s Depot Park Project, an effort to reconstruct the contaminated land of the former Gainesville Gas Company’s coal gas plant.
John Veilleux, engineer of the Depot Avenue project, said improving the roadway around the park was essential for the downtown area.
“There’s been a great need and desire by the city commission and the residents to do something downtown to get people to come to that part of Gainesville,” he said. “We needed to dress up the roadway. It needed a major upgrade.”
The new Depot Avenue will be more pedestrian-friendly, with wider medians and bike lanes along with pedestrian lighting and appealing landscaping, Veilleux said.
Though east and westbound traffic will reopen Wednesday, the northbound Southeast Third Street lane from Depot Avenue will be closed until Monday, as crews will be putting final touches on the project with small roadway repairs.
