In time for the Republican National Convention this summer, the city will make aesthetic improvements to Swann Avenue in the Hyde Park area.
Swann will be resurfaced and restriped between Bayshore Boulevard and just west of the Selmon Crosstown Expressway. A new fence will surround a retention pond near Hyde Park Village.
The convention runs from Aug. 27-30 and is expected to draw 50,000 people to Tampa. Convention planners expect thousands of attendees will be drawn to the Hyde Park area and its shops, restaurants and bars.
When the improvements to Swann are complete, the avenue will have a new striping scheme that includes a bike lane, left-turn lane, delineated parking and a painted median.
The improvements hopefully will slow traffic and reduce crashes while making Swann easier to use for walkers, bikers, cars and buses, said Jean Duncan, the city's transportation manager.
It appears the same number of parking spaces will be available on Swann after the improvements, but the striping will make it clearer to drivers where they may park, Duncan said.
It's unknown how much that project will cost, but resurfacing and any utility work needed for the project will cost roughly $200,000, said Irv Lee, director of Tampa's public works department.
The city also has agreed to place a better-looking fence around a pond at Swann and the expressway.
The city will replace an existing chain-link fence surrounding the pond with a fence resembling wrought iron, Lee said. The new fence will be slightly closer to the body of water known as "Swann Pond."
The roughly $50,000 in funding needed for the fence project is available now, Lee said.
The two projects are slated to be completed by the end of July.
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