Lakeland’s Public Works division was planning to resurface three roads in the Lake Morton neighborhood starting on Jan. 15. But the project has been postponed so residents can weigh in on whether Success Avenue, South Boulevard, and East Park Street should be covered with fresh asphalt or returned to brick.
The City of Lakeland will start the paving process on South Boulevard, Success Avenue and East Park Street starting January 15, 2024. Contractors working for the City of Lakeland will start milling the asphalt surface down to the road base and then systematically move to the next street until all three are milled. Milling is expected to take at least three days.
New asphalt will start to be installed on Monday, January 22, 2024. Resurfacing after milling is expected to take three days. The roadway must be milled before paving otherwise the elevation of the road would continue to get higher every time a paving project occurred. Milling before paving prevents driveway and ADA ramp adjustments due to increasing pavement heights. It is common practice to mill down the road before adding a hot paving mix.
This project will be performed during the daytime hours to least impact the residential area. Vehicular traffic will be limited while the contractor is working. During this project, traffic control signs will be in place and flagmen will be there to assists motorists. Delays are to be expected and motorist are encouraged to use an alternative route if possible.
However, Communications Director Kevin Cook said the project has been paused because there are bricks underneath the existing asphalt.
“The impacted neighborhood gets to voice their opinion on whether or not they have asphalt or we break down to the brick and restore the bricks,” Cook said.
Restoring brick roads is a longer process than paving. If the residents choose it, the work will have to be scheduled and will take about two months.