by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Months of work, rerouting and waiting will yield more of the same this weekend for residents and merchants near Riverside’s Park and King shopping district. Now nearly two years into its ongoing $5 million overhaul, the intersection will temporarily close this Friday and reopen on Sunday.
The City’s Public Works Department issued notice of the three-day closure earlier this week, citing a need to expedite the project while ensuring the safety of passersby and construction crews.
The bulk of the work this weekend will focus on installing decorative brick pavers along the intersection’s four crosswalks.
Now months behind schedule, work to renovate Park and King streets was expected to be finished before of the end of last year. An early summer completion date is now anticipated.
“Our time line has been extended a bit, but business owners have been very understanding,” said Public Works spokesperson Marcy Cook. “There are several components to the projects, so we want to be sure to address them as carefully as possible.”
Those components, Cook said, are addressed at biweekly meetings, where Park and King merchants give feedback and offer suggestions. Most recently, those business owners suggested crepe myrtle trees be planted instead of large palms as originally planned.
“And we agreed because we understand that, in the end, these merchants are our partners in this project,” said Cook. “After we are finished, they will be the ones who stay behind and operate their businesses there.”
After the decorative brick sidewalks are installed this weekend, Cook said utility upgrades will resume and by early summer, stretches of Park and King streets will be repaved and historic lighting installed.
“When we broke ground at Park and King several years ago, I encouraged the business community to be patient because we knew the project would take time,” said City Council member Michael Corrigan, whose district includes Park and King. “And even though we’ve faced delays, I’m proud to see they’ve gone beyond being patient. They’ve adopted a healthy outlook and have continued to be prosperous.
“When the project is finally completed, I think it will make the area that much more beautiful.”