LAKELAND, Fla. — Lakeland's Downtown West Action Plan aims to improve housing options, infrastructure, and economic development. Before the plan is set in stone, the city wants to hear from residents.
The plan focuses on the area from Florida Avenue to Lake Beulah and from Memorial Boulevard down to North Lime Street. The plan targets about 1,100 acres of land across several neighborhoods.
Those neighborhoods include North Lake Wire, Lake Bonnet, Crescent Height, Lake Bonnet shores, Westgate Central Avenue, Lake Beulah, and Downtown West.
In 2022, the city hired GAI Community Solutions group to study the area and suggest improvements. The city told us they determined three major moves to focus on.
“Improving connectivity for all of pedestrians and users within the area, adding to the residential base of there neighborhood, and nurturing their neighborhoods. So those are the three major moves that are the focus areas of the study," CRA manager Valerie Ferrell said.
Now the city wants to hear which of those three is the top priority for residents.
“Specific changes would be actual infrastructure improvements, trail improvements, sidewalk connections, real infrastructure improvements that they could actually see,” Ferrell said.
She said this plan will improve connectivity throughout the area. As for costs, Ferrell said the project does not have a price tag yet.
A meeting on Tuesday will take place at the RP Funding Center in the Lake Hollingsworth Room. It starts at 6 p.m. The city wants you to come ready to share your feedback on the five-year plan.
Ferrell said public input is crucial to the plan.
“The plan is going to be revealed once we get the priorities from the community during Tuesday's meeting,” Ferrell said.
The city said they will wrap up the planning process within the next few months and hope to present the final plans this fall.
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