[Times photo: Jim Damaske]
Southbound traffic along Myrtle Avenue in Clearwater maneuvers around barricades as construction begins on utility lines. The 2.4-mile project runs from Lakeview Road to Fort Harrison Avenue.
CLEARWATER - Two businesses are being affected by construction taking place on Myrtle Avenue, but not the way you would expect.
Gulf Coast European Automotive Repair at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Pierce Street is actually seeing an increase in business since the road work began in late April.
Every week, two or three cars with tires damaged by road work have come in for repair, said Tom Black, a mechanic.
"Construction is construction. . . . All I can say is I'm glad they started our section first," Black said.
Pat Trizis, owner of the Tin Can Cafe on Myrtle, said business at his family-style breakfast and lunch restaurant is up. "We're feeding all the construction workers," he said.
The 2.4-mile, city construction project involves the reconstruction of Myrtle Avenue from Lakeview Road to Fort Harrison Avenue. After underground utility work such as installing and lining storm sewers and replacing reclaimed water lines and water mains is completed, the roadway will be rebuilt, said Steve McCarty, who is overseeing the project for PBS&J, the engineering consulting firm hired by the city of Clearwater.
McCarty said the project will be completed in phases, which will alternate traffic between the west and east sides of Myrtle Avenue. "The goal," McCarty said, "is to maintain at least one lane of through traffic each way (north and south) at all times." Currently, traffic has been moved to the middle and west sides of Myrtle Avenue in some areas.
The cost of the project is just over $14-million and is expected to be completed by Oct. 18, 2005.
