Lakeland’s City Commission voted unanimously on Monday to adopt the Community Redevelopment Agency’s Downtown West Action Plan — an ambitious outline of short- and long-term actions to nurture and uplift the area west of Florida Avenue, south of Memorial Boulevard, north of Lime Street and east of Lake Beulah Drive.
The plan, which was a year and a half in the making, aims to better connect portions of the city, revitalize struggling neighborhoods and provide incentives for infill development. Its adoption makes it easier for the CRA to apply for grants to complete or begin projects.
Community Redevelopment Agency Manager Valerie Ferrell-Vaught told commissioners that the CRA has targeted about a dozen “priority projects” that are either underway or planned for the near future in Downtown West, noting that “the fabric of downtown erodes significantly in the first two blocks west of Florida Avenue.”
“The absence of active building edges or street tree canopy contributes to an unappealing and barren urban environment,” the Downtown West report states. “An abundance of surface parking lots, leading to a treacherous arterial road, is very uninviting.”
Improving connectivity
In late 2022 and early 2023, GAI Consultants asked residents and businesses in the Downtown West zone what was important to them. People wanted safe ways to walk or bike through the area, easier access to Bonnet Springs Park and downtown, more housing and better use of city-owned property.
“If you were to run a ‘walk score’ on Bonnet Springs Park, it would fail. We’ve built a world-class park in the middle of the city that you have to drive to. That’s unforgiveable.”
David Bunch, Co-Founder of Bonnet Springs Park
David Bunch, one of the visionaries behind the privately-funded, 168-acre park, said at the public forum in July, “If you were to run a ‘walk score’ on Bonnet Springs Park, it would fail. We’ve built a world-class park in the middle of the city that you have to drive to. That’s unforgivable.”
GAI Consultants, the authors of the report, agreed, saying: “Bonnet Springs Park is a world-class community amenity, located mere blocks from Downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. However, accessing this urban oasis is challenging, especially for those who rely on walking or biking. George Jenkins Boulevard, Kathleen Road, and the CSX Railway are barriers to access.”
The report outlined several ways to improve access to Bonnet Springs Park, including linking it to existing multi-use trail networks. Lakeland was recently recognized for its running and walking trails, with plans for more in the works.
Projects underway or planned to improve connectivity:
- Five-Points Roundabout and CSX pedestrian tunnel. The first is nearly finished, while the tunnel is being planned.
- A George Jenkins Boulevard trail bridge retrofit is being evaluated for feasibility.
- Lake Wire path upgrades, which are being planned.
- New York Avenue bike and pedestrian bridge over the railroad crossing, which is being planned.
- The Sloan Avenue/Bonnet Springs intersection was improved, but an overhaul is being evaluated.
- A George Jenkins Boulevard/Sloan roundabout is being evaluated for feasibility.
- George Jenkins Boulevard safety improvements, which are being evaluated for feasibility.
The Five Points Roundabout (which is now four points after the city closed off one leg) took many years to plan, get permitted and start construction. It is scheduled to open in mid-May, allowing for easier access to George Jenkins Boulevard and Bonnet Springs Park.
One aspect of that intersection improvement is still in the planning stage. CRA and City officials would like to add another tunnel under the railroad overpass to allow safe pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
“Ultimately, it would be wonderful to widen that opening and to raise the rail so that it could be much more of a flow-through process downtown, which involves (railroad company) CSX, which is a very challenging thing to do,” Ferrell–Vaught said. “But you can kind of just keep that in mind on a longer-term basis.”
Safety is also on the minds of CRA officials. Sidewalks would be added to “connect gaps in sidewalk coverage and support infill development and safety and walkability for all residents.”
The changing face of North Lake Wire
In addition, neighborhood traffic calming devices, like circles or traffic humps, would target the North Lake Wire neighborhood and Crescent Heights neighborhood to address speeding associated with cut-thru traffic that has no origins or destinations in the neighborhood.
They also said that development projects already approved on the north shore of Lake Wire have the potential to change the face of the district.
“New residential developments approved alongside Lake Wire signify a new era for Downtown West, bringing with it new housing options and an evolving skyline,” the Downtown West Plan reads. “While new residents will add to the dynamism and vibrancy of the area, this next generation will change aspects of the community’s identity.”
But, the report adds, while the North Lake Wire neighborhood has made improvements, it is held back by absentee property owners who are holding parcels as speculative investments, including in the area between George Jenkins and Memorial boulevards and also the area west of Lake Beulah.
“A lack of new housing development is due, in part, to speculation, as investors and developers buy up land in hope of selling it later at a higher price,” the report reads. “This practice can drive up the cost of land in the area, making it difficult for families and individuals to afford to buy or build homes.”
Neighborhood infrastructure improvements underway or planned include:
- Crescent Heights sewer connections, which are being evaluated for feasibility.
- North Lake Wire sidewalk/street tree/light program, which is planned.
- North Lake Wire pre-development grant program, which is underway.
- Westgate Central and Lake Beulah pre-development grants, which are underway.
- Westgate Central and Lake Beulah sidewalk/street tree/light program, which is underway.
Perhaps the most controversial proposal in the plan is potentially narrowing Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue between Memorial and Sikes boulevards from five lanes to three as part of a “complete streets” project to make the road safer for pedestrians and bikes.
“As currently designed, the road is significantly under capacity and frequently above desired operating speed,” the report said. “The community recognized these issues that create a barrier through the heart of the neighborhood.”
However, at a public meeting in July, many residents were against the idea. In the action plan, a road diet for Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue is listed as a second-tier priority to be considered later. Ferrell told commissioners the plan is not set in stone, particularly the longer-term items.
Better utilization of publicly owned properties
In addition, the report notes that the land used for parking at the RP Funding Center is an underutilized asset and could be repositioned for development.
“Re-imagining underutilized surface parking around the RP Funding Center represents a major opportunity for the city to enhance the vibrancy of downtown,” according to the report. “For instance, higher-density, mixed-use development could include much-needed housing, retail spaces, and office space, all within walking distance of downtown.”
City commissioners last year discussed the possibility of building the Sixth District Court of Appeal on that property. The Sixth DCA currently leases space on Main Street for offices and judges’ chambers, but it holds hearings at Florida Southern College or the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando. An appeals courthouse requires special security, including a parking area exclusively for the nine judges on the panel. An additional 75 employees would need parking, along with lawyers and members of the public attending hearings.
Regardless of what goes in, the CRA staff is recommending consolidating parking on the RP Funding Center site to facilitate development along the Lime Street Corridor and the western portion of the site overlooking Lake Beulah.
Any residential building in that area could take advantage of sites adjacent to the proposed, but currently unfunded, intermodal transportation center north of the RP Funding Center to further the city’s goals for transit-oriented development densities and forms.
Beautification is being discussed for all neighborhoods in Downtown West, including sidewalks, streetlights and street trees.
“The plan leaves no communities behind! Neighborhoods in Downtown West include North Lake Wire, Crescent Heights, Westgate Central, Lake Beulah, and portions of western Downtown,” the report states.
Infill targets
CRA officials want to prioritize making it easier for developers to build new residential options near community services, transit and amenities in places where it complements existing neighborhoods.
“This targeted infill could include ‘missing middle’ housing, like duplexes and townhomes, and an Arts Gateway that mixes residential types compatible with light industrial uses.”
A North Lake Wire gateway “upzone” with design standards is planned, with staff currently evaluating policy language and next steps.
The CRA would implement a Pre-Development Grant Program to support infill residential construction. The grant could be used to defray the costs of design, survey, permitting, and other activities required before construction.
In addition, CRA officials are recommending policy changes and design guidelines to encourage higher-density residential/mixed-use development along George Jenkins Boulevard in the southeast corner of the North Lake Wire Neighborhood.
They are also encouraging infill development on the parking lots along the city-owned New York Avenue corridor.
CRA officials envision the area near the Bonnet Springs entrance, on both the north and south sides of George Jenkins Boulevard, as an area ripe for development, potentially as an “Arts Gateway” with mixed-use buildings.
Projects currently underway:
- Five-Points Roundabout — city construction funding $1.25 million, CRA contribution $1.15 million.
- Chase Street Trail, construction in FY 2026 — city design funding is currently under bid, FDOT construction funding $1.5 million, CRA contribution $300,000.
- New York Avenue Bicycle/Pedestrian Overpass, construction in FY2026 — FDOT design funding is currently underway, FDOT construction funding $9.2 million, city/CRA contribution $85,000.
- Hartsell Trail, design FY24 — FDOT design funding $100,000, FDOT construction funding: draft tentative work program shows $850,000 in FY2026. Must be adopted by the Florida Legislature, CRA contribution $75,000.
- West Lake Hunter Trail, phase I, Lime Street to Hartsell Avenue, construction in FY2028 — FDOT design funding $805,000, FDOT construction funding $1.7 million.
- Memorial Boulevard Project, development and environmental study from Walker Avenue to State Road 33/Lakeland Hills Boulevard, study FY2024 — FDOT study funding $1.3 million, FDOT construction funding pending work program release 2033/32, CRA contribution to construction could be significant.
- Lakeland Intermodal Center, PD&E study scope under development — funding $2 million, Transportation Planning Organization has requested $5 million for design, there is no funding available for construction at this time, PD&E study for SunRail Extension is requested for addition to FY2024 of FDOT work program.
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