Will this $5.6 million project get you out of your car and to walk from Riverwalk to the Village of the Arts?

What began with an idea to spend a couple hundred thousand dollars to give Old Main Street a facelift has turned into a $5.6 million project to transform downtown Bradenton — especially for walkers.

Improving walkability and connectivity from Riverwalk, through downtown and to the Village of the Arts has been a goal for years, and the city believes doing a quality project ensures success. Economic Development Director Carl Callahan said the city clearly never budgeted $5.6 million, "but we also didn't have half-cent sales tax dollars when we first started this, and we can get this done if we phase it in."

The project will include the removal of brick pavers on downtown streets, which have become costly to maintain. They will be replaced with decorative concrete finishes with a colorful blue ribbon effect winding through downtown. Other amenities include better lighting, wider sidewalks, the addition of outdoor furniture for gathering places and improved landscaping.

The design will no doubt inprove the look of Old Main Street and surrounding area, but will it achieve its ultimate goal? It's supposed to, according to just about any specialty piece written on streetscaping.

The University of Delaware’s Complete Communities Program lays out the argument: "If properly executed, it enhances safety, leads to a more healthy and active lifestyle, spurs the local economy, increases private investment and supports the development of a good business environment."

The key to a successful streetscaping project is its ability to attract people who want to walk around downtown, spending more time shopping, eating and drinking. Making it appealing is important, but ensuring the connectivity of your targeted area is everything.

Unfortunately for the Village of the Arts, an important piece of that connectivity is being left out of the first phase unless funds become available. The stretch of 12th Street West (Old Main Street) from Sixth Avenue West to Ninth Avenue West leads to the outskirts of the village, but it will likely be completed during the second phase of the project, which could be two to three years away.

"Too bad it's not happening right away because my worry is that this will get put off for a year or two and something else will come up where the funding will be earmarked elsewhere and the village will get pushed to the side again," said Dawn Collins, co-owner of Mystic Village.

Collins said there has only been one time when people intentionally came from downtown to the village and that was during the Farmers Market held in the village during the Bradenton Area River Regatta. But Collins said trolleys were the key to that success.

"I've rarely heard anyone that came to the village say they walked from downtown," Collins said. "It happened once as far as I can remember. The biggest disappointment that important connection point isn't happening now is that every year there seems to be a plan that makes us say this is the year the village really takes off. And every year it hasn't happened yet."

The city already does have in place many tools designed to show that downtown Bradenton is a good place to explore on foot, including public art and WalkBradenton.com, a way-finding site to discover downtown.

Pedestrians and bicyclists are likely to love the easy access from Riverwalk once the City Center parking garage is complete. The accompanying City Plaza between the garage and City Hall is designed to be an extension of Riverwalk into downtown.

But not everyone is convinced.

"That's a lot of money to spend on what sounds like beautification," said Elliott McManus, who was walking his dog at Riverwalk on Wednesday. "I'm sure it's going to look nice and I can really only speak for myself. I like to walk on Riverwalk, but I don't really go any further. I don't walk into downtown and I certainly wouldn't walk from here to the village, but I suppose there are others who would."

Village Mystic's co-owner Jeff Wheeler is trying to remain optimistic.

"There's nothing we can do to change that now," he said. "Anything they can do to make that connectivity happen has to be a good thing to make access from downtown to the village easier. But yeah, delaying that important piece has everybody a little off."

Phase one of the project is estimated to cost $2.7 million, not including $250,000 for the construction documents featuring the final design. It includes:

• Old Main Street from First Avenue West to Sixth Avenue West for more than $1.8 million.
  
  
• Third Avenue from 10th Street West to 12th Street West on the south side for $312,832.
  
  
• Third Avenue from 10th Street West to 12th Street West on the north side around the new garage for $287,347.
  
  
• Fourth Avenue from 10th Street West to 12th Street West for $332,832.
  
  

Later phases include:

• 12th Street West from Sixth Avenue West to Ninth Avenue west for $839,213.
  
  
• 10th Street West for $836,693.
  
  
• Third Avenue from 12th Street West to 13th Street West for $149,017.
  
  
• Fourth Avenue from 12th Street West to 13th Street West for $139,902.
  
  
• 13th Street West for $1.1 million.
  
  

In all, Bradenton will invest $30 million for new projects in the next three to four years. That's not including the private development currently underway: the Spring Hill Suites hotel, the Twin Dolphin Marina expansion and South Florida Museum expansion.

Callahan said the Bradenton Community Redevelopment Agency has $2.7 million to put toward the streetscaping project and there are several revenue sources the city can tap, including the general fund if needs. There are also impact fees for the coming improvements at Mineral Springs Park, a Riverwalk expansion and the construction of Glazier-Gates Park II.

There are also one-time revenue sources from property sales, as well as half-cent sales tax dollars.

"I want to make that clear because people will see us spending all this money and think we'll need to raise their taxes," Callahan said. "That's not the case. I've come up with revenue sources that exceed what we need for all these projects.

"We are in GSD mode, or get stuff done. We are in that mode and we know these things are going to get done."

This story was originally published May 4, 2018 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Will this $5.6 million project get you out of your car and to walk from Riverwalk to the Village of the Arts?."