LAKELAND, Fla. — One of Lakeland’s major thoroughfares will soon see some economic improvement.
When Talisa Mixon was looking to turn her beef jerky food truck business into a brick and mortar, she thought Memorial Boulevard was a prime location.
“We found this building because of all of the traffic that’s here in the area. Once we saw this area, we figured it was a nice area to be in,” Mixon said.
She said having a business on Memorial is great, but there’s always room for improvement.
“This plaza specifically sits off the road so a lot of people don't really know it's here, but we are trying to bring more business into this area so every day we get somebody new,” Mixon said.
Small business owners like Mixon are who the City of Lakeland wants to hear from. The City was awarded a $75,000 grant from Florida Commerce to create an economic development plan for Memorial Boulevard.
“From Gary Rd. on the east to Wabash Ave. on the west, which is from city limits to city limits, east and west along Memorial Blvd., which is probably among the top five most important commercial corridors in Lakeland,” said Brian Rewis, director of community and economic development.
With the help of a consultant and community input, the City will conduct a study to identify potential infrastructure investments and improvements that could spur economic growth.
“We’re talking about resiliency, we’re talking about storm water and economic sustainability, walk-ability, not just vehicular traffic, that would go a long way toward improving the conditions and the economic prosperity,” Rewis said.
The study is expected to take about five months to complete. Business owners would like to see the wide, heavily traveled roadway become more pedestrian friendly.
“I see people riding their bikes all day up and down this road, even the homeless people out in this area. So I would like to see them more and make it more enticing to this area for more people,” Mixon said.
If approved by the Lakeland City Commission, the first phase of the project will be due by the end of January.
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