Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
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The re-imagining of downtown Lake Wales and the application of the Connected plan is now inspiring some significant proposed changes to Central Avenue between Scenic Highway and First Street. In keeping with the concepts advanced in the award-winning Lake Wales Connected plan, a new pavement configuration which will add a bike lane to the north side of the street was approved at Tuesday's Community Redevelopment Agency meeting. The board will enter a $35,000 contract with...
Although most Lake Wales residents aren't even aware of it, Lake Wales is famous for thousands as the site of the largest group of landscape designs ever created by the legendary firm of Frederick Law Olmsted. So how did it come to be that the firm responsible for creating New York City's Central Park and for designing the grounds of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. played such a vital role in the planning – and now future – of Lake Wales? Our destiny as a "City in a Gar...
A multi-faceted project to transform Lake Wales' central districts will officially begin within weeks after the City Commission approved an agreement with Cobb Site Development, Inc. to perform the construction of the city's new Park Avenue Connector Trail with a $1.4 million contract on Tuesday evening. The "Park Avenue Connector Trail" will actually utilize a portion of that right-of-way to connect the popular Lake Wailes Trail to the Library Park Trail segment, via Crystal...
No sooner has work been completed on the railroad that caused the closing of Hunt Brothers Road this week than crews will move south to begin work on the grade crossing at the Golfview Park Road at Bryan Road in Babson Park. Work there will take place on Thursday and Friday. Detour signs will be erected at SR 17 in Babson Park, requiring traffic to bypass the shortcut leading to the east side of Lake Wales. Crews working for Florida Midland Railroad Company, Inc. will require...
A portion of Hunt Brothers Road will be closed on close on Monday and Tuesday, February 14 and 15 for a repair project. The closure will be at the rail crossing west of Lilly Street and near the Hunt Brothers Citrus Growers Cooperative in Lake Wales. The two-day long repair project will be the first of six that will eventually be conducted along nearly nine miles of tracks between Lake Wales and Frostproof by Florida Midland Railroad Company, Inc. The railroad operates trains...
A dangerous and often congested intersection of Scenic Highway and Mountain Lake Road on the near north side of Lake Wales is expected to become a bit safer after the Florida Department of Transportation completes the installation of a traffic signal. Traffic is frequently backed for left turns from northbound Scenic to westbound Mountain Lake, while left turns onto northbound Scenic are even more difficult. Protected left turns are expected to be a feature of the new signal....
Construction of the first of two new bridges designed to carry traffic on SR 60 over US 27 took a major step forward over the weekend despite a spate of inclement weather. Crews managed to lift fifteen steel I-beams weighing nearly 30 tons each, placing and securing them to massive concrete bases during a 54-hour window created by the temporary closing of US 27. Numerous police officers were on duty at traffic chokepoints. Heavy rains early Sunday, about 40 hours into the...
The impending 54-hour closure of US 27 is expected to snarl traffic throughout the city for an entire weekend, but Florida Department of Transportation planners are taking steps to try to mitigate the resultant traffic snarls. Among them are extra police officers posted at key intersections and an extensive web of signage to guide drivers on nearly a dozen different routes. Described by some as "Traffic-geddon," the normally smooth flow of traffic around the Lake Wales area...
An unprecedented closing of US 27 will snarl traffic through Lake Wales in mid-January, routing traffic from the busy corridor along several area streets and highways. The Florida Department of Transportation announced the impending closing, which will allow construction crews to raise the heavy beams for the new bridge being constructed to carry SR 60 over the federal highway. The closing will last an entire weekend from Friday night until early Monday morning. During which...
Citing private property rights and the current broad wave of development interest around Lake Wales, the City Commission is faced with a tough balancing act: allowing rapid growth while seeking to protect the city's "small town feel." That desire has been voiced by at least three commissioners in recent meetings, none more vocal in their sentiments than Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson, who has delayed discussion in agenda 'workshop' meetings to repeat his opposition to "urban...
Funding for a clean-up effort that could pave the way for the construction of a traffic roundabout connecting Scenic Highway with Burns Avenue and Washington Avenue has been requested by the City of Lake Wales. The roundabout was recommended in the Lake Wales Connected plan, and has been included in the City's five-year Capital Improvements Plan (CIP). The draft resolution seeks half a million dollars from the Environmental Protection Agency. It was prepared by Cardno, which...
Motorists can expect more changes to traffic patterns in coming weeks thanks to the massive bridge-replacement and intersection redesign underway at the US 27/SR 60 crossing. Beginning November 29, 2021, Central Avenue at US 27 will be closed to allow crews to pour concrete in the center of the intersection. The disruption at the intersection will last for approximately two weeks, according to the Floridea Department of Transportation. US 27 will continue to have two open...
The multiple proposals for future residential development in the Lake Wales area has many concerned for the future of the city and the potential loss of its "small town" feel. After hearing from numerous citizens about their worries for the future, Commissioner and Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson has felt the need to speak about the issue. "Folks have been telling me they are concerned about the town being overwhelmed by the coming urbanization," Gibson said in a written statement....
With thousands of homes coming off the drawing board and plans to build them at more than a dozen locations around Lake Wales, city planners are attempting to get ahead of the expected traffic impacts with a variety of moves. The latest proposal, which was approved by the City Commission Tuesday, is a study which will propose a "mobility fee," the new buzzword replacing traditional "traffic impact fees." The new fee will apply to each new home built in the city, assuring a poo...
If electricity came in flavors, your lights might be smacking their lips when you flip the switch once a major solar power project is completed in Lake Wales. A 600-acre property just north of Dinner Lake stretching beyond Waverly Road into Dundee will soon be the site of a sprawling solar "farm". The project received approval from the Lake Wales Planning and Zoning board Tuesday after project developer TECO Energy made some minor adjustments to the vegetated buffers around th...
Local dining food choices aren't as limited as you might believe, and they certainly don't have to be boring. That much is evident after a visit to a local restaurant celebrating its first anniversary. Orgen D'nal is an outgrowth of a personal training studio called Kingdom Fitness run by restaurant owner Arthur White in an adjacent building. His customers enjoyed rejuvenating health drinks after workouts, so after three years of operations he conceived of a juice bar, which...
The massive $45 million project to replace the obsolete bridge over US 27 in Lake Wales is continuing apace, but the comings months will see multiple traffic interruptions, the Florida Department of Transportation has confirmed. The bridge will carry State Road 60 over the federal highway. Corine Burgess, Community Outreach manager for the project on behalf of FDOT, has confirmed that construction in the middle of the Central Avenue-US 27 intersection will be disrupted again...
New features and sections added to LakeWalesNews.Net have driven skyrocketing readership since September 1, reaching well over 80,000 page views during the first month, according to statistics captured by Internet analytics. New Day Market Research acquired the online newspaper on that date and has since significantly enhanced the publication's reach and interest. "We are extremely pleased by the community reaction to our added features like the graphic Community Calendar," sa...
With hundreds of new homes slated for construction along the booming Buck Moore Road, Lake Wales City Commissioners have unanimously approved hiring an engineering firm to conduct a traffic study to keep things moving along that corridor. "This is a proactive step to anticipate and mitigate any impacts" from the new subdivisions, City Manager James Slaton said in introducing the proposal at a Commission workshop. "We want to do the corridor study now to have it in place when...
The Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency took "first steps toward a pretty major transformation of Lake Wales" Wednesday evening, City Manager and CRA Executive Director James Slaton told the five board members after their historic vote to move forward on a major bond issue. "I hope you realize the weight of that." The vote to retain the law firm of Bryant Miller Olive, PA (BMO) to guide the borrowing of up to $18.5 million dollars set in motion the full implementation of...
A small fleet of electric vehicles is expected to roll quietly into downtown Lake Wales on September 25, where they will be on display along Market Street in conjunction with the Saturday Farmers Market. Vehicles including a Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach E will be open to public inspection, so visitors may safely sit in and check out the quiet motors, high-tech features, and the comfortable interiors of the cars. The display of vehicles will take place on Market Street...
A fatal crash between a light pickup truck and a Freightliner resulted in an afternoon-long blockage of US 27 in Lake Wales Saturday. Edwin McMillan, 62, of Lake Wales was southbound on US 27 at 1:15 pm when his Nissan Frontier collided with the left turning truck driven by Sterling Robles of Fresno, California, who was uninjured. The crash occurred at the intersection of Washington Avenue, which has signalized left-turn lanes. If remained unclear which driver had the...
The Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency has agreed to sell a parcel of land at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and B Street on which developers have proposed a mixed-use building that includes both commercial and residential space. After the city issued a request for proposals, two bids were received to develop the vacant tract, currently owned by both the city and CRA. Florida Development Corporation was unanimously approved as the firm to move forward with its...
Following a 16-month undercover investigation, Polk County Sheriff's Office undercover Narcotics detectives and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force made 29 arrests in the Lake Wales area and obtained three arrest warrants related to the trafficking, sale, and possession of illegal narcotics. The operation was dubbed the "Bell Gang Blues." Seventeen of the suspects and two still at large were from Lake Wales. During the investigation, detectives and agents...
A $1.63 million Polk County project to replace the Walk-In-Water Road Bridge over Tiger Creek in rural Lake Wales will close Walk-In-Water Road for three months starting Monday, July 12. The bridge, built in 1960, is structurally deficient and is being replaced with a new bridge to meet current standards. During construction, traffic will be detoured around the bridge crossing along State Road 60 (Hesperides Road) and County Road 630E. Depending on traveling destination, the...
