West Side residents and visitors will soon see aesthetic and functional changes to streets and sidewalks around the Guadalupe Cultural Arts area.
“This project is going to focus on Brazos Street from Montezuma to San Fernando Street, and we’re going to be improving the sidewalks along the West Side,” said city spokeswoman Melissa Sparks.
Some of the improvements include landscaping, decorative brickwork and other amenities.
“At El Paso and Brazos we’re going to be putting in benches, litter receptacles. There’ll be bike racks for people who maybe want to take the bus and have biked over there," she said.
If money allows, plans may even include a B-Cycle rack. These improvements will affect the quality of experience for locals and others looking to attend events at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. And funding comes from an unexpected place.
"It’s 2007 bond savings," she said. "We were able to save money on various projects -- quite a bit of money. And so we were able to identify new projects to re-allocate those leftover resources to. And so we put $1.5 million into these Guadalupe Street improvement projects."
Also part of these improvements are audible cue traffic lights for the visually impaired and new art bus shelters. Construction started today and is expected to be completed in six months.
