Bay Avenue sidewalk project nixed by city

Amid a fury of relentless neighborhood opposition, the Apalachicola city commission voted down at their September 7 regular meeting, a $550,000 state and federally funded grant to construct a pedestrian sidewalk from Battery Park down Bay Avenue to 12th Street and from 12th Street to Avenue E.

Beginning with a special meeting on August 11, 2010, held to award the $75,000 design portion of the project, neighbors in attendance said they wanted no parts of a sidewalk on Bay Avenue and that the city had failed to notify them of the pending project.

Not only would the sidewalk project have created construction jobs, it was part of a general plan started in 2001 by the city in collaboration with the Franklin County Community Traffic Safety Team (FCCTST). The purpose of which was to encourage and improve the flow of pedestrian traffic throughout the entire Apalachicola community, and to meet all safety and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.

The city successfully completed without any opposition the construction of Phase I in 2007, which connected the Scipio Creek boat basin to Battery Park along Market and Water Street.

If the project had continued as intended, Phase II would have connected Battery Park to Bay Avenue, tuning right on 12th Street and proceeded toward Avenue E.

Subsequent plans included Phase III, which would have connected Avenue M and 12th Street back down towards Market Street and Phase IV would have started at the corner of Market Street and Dr. Martin Luther King, Avenue going upward towards the old high school on 14th Street.

The plan would have eventually included connecting the city’s historic squares via a network of sidewalks to make the whole town pedestrian friendly.

Since the conception of the project in 2001, there has been an ongoing discussion held at both the FCCTST and city commission meetings, and most recently at meetings held by the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and Community Pride Partnership Initiative (CPPI).

The Florida Department of Transportation and the federal government will most likely redirect the design and construction funds to another community leaving the city to search anew for less divisive ways to enhance the quality of life for the residents of Apalachicola.