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Council backs planning work on Old 441 (Alford Street) corridor; horizon team seeks professional study and grant pursuits
Summary
City staff and a 'horizon team' presented a corridor vision for Old 441/Alford Street (the route toward Mount Dora) that includes complete-street elements, utilities, rails-to-trails connections and gateway signage; the council directed staff to pursue a professional planning study and look for funding.
A Tavares horizon team presented findings and preliminary recommendations for the Old 441 (Alford Street) corridor on June 18 and the council signaled support for professional planning and funding efforts.
Antonio, presenting for the horizon team, described a multi-decade planning baseline and reiterated that the item builds on prior preliminary engineering work. "This is a preliminary engineering report that was done way back in 02/2007," Antonio said, framing the presentation as a continuation rather than a brand-new plan.
The team outlined complete-street concepts — sidewalks, decorative lighting, dedicated bike lanes, landscaping and wayfinding signage — and emphasized attention to underground utilities and concurrency requirements for new development. The presentation noted private investment is already responding to public improvements, citing ongoing renovations and change-of-use projects in the corridor.
Nut graf: The horizon team asked the council for direction to proceed to a professional pre-engineering/master-plan that would coordinate water, sewer, stormwater, roads, sidewalks, landscaping and signage and to pursue grant funding to pay for design and construction. The team recommended coordinating with Lake County and regional agencies to piggyback construction bids and maximize limited transportation funds.
Councilmembers spoke in favor of moving forward with planning and noted that prior public investments had prompted private reinvestment downtown. One councilmember emphasized that improvements could make the corridor more attractive to private investors and improve the gateway into Tavares from Mount Dora.
Council direction: The council agreed to move forward with planning work and to include the study in future budgeting and grant-seeking efforts; staff said the professional engineering work would likely be pursued in the next fiscal year rather than the current year.
Ending: The horizon team will proceed to scope a consultant-led planning study and seek council direction during the next budget cycle on funding and timing.
