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City OKs Improvements To Laura Street Area

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By GEORGE H. NEWMAN

gnewman@tampatrib.com

Published: November 12, 2008

PLANT CITY - City commissioners have approved another phase of improvements to the Laura Street area.

Work on the $789,347 project will start in early December and take about six months to complete. Officials called it a "keystone project" for the city.

Commissioners voted unanimously Oct. 27 for the latest phase of the project.

The work includes the widening of the Laura Street roadway between the CSX railroad tracks and Knight Street and the replacement of the pavement, sidewalks and drainage facilities. Further enhancements will include landscaping improvements along Laura.

The Laura Street area, once plagued with serious street and property flooding for many decades, has been well-served by the construction of the lake at Samuel W. Cooper Park, which helps drain the east side of town, officials said. The city constructed the lake and made other drainage improvements in the first phase of the improvement project.

Mayor Rick expressed his support of the continued project.

"The city has made great strides on the Laura Street project in the past few years," Lott said. "We still have a long way to go, but our continued efforts will pay great dividends in the long run."

Assistant City Manager Greg Horwedel agreed with Lott.

"Improvements to Laura Street and the infrastructure and landscaping there is a keystone project for us in that area," Horwedel said.
Lane Construction Corp. of Tampa was the low bidder on the project. The city has about $789,347 in its budget for the work, plus fees and other expenses.

The city plans to extend the improvements to Warnell Street, but that "won't be funded for at least another year," city Community Development Director Jim McDaniel said. "But we decided to get as much of this project complete as we could under the present budget."

The city estimates it will take another $ 346,028 to complete the improvements to Warnell Street.

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 865-4451.

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