LAKEPORT >> Numerous ongoing and just completed capital improvement projects are getting the city ready to maximize the high season of May to September for visitors and residents alike as the Lakeport City Council took stock of achievements this past fiscal year.
Eagerly awaited paving projects have or are about to be completed. Along the Green, Sayre and Loch Roads area sidewalk gap installations along with ADA compliant ramps were recently completed. Also, chip seal projects in the Del Lago neighborhood, also completed, informed City Manager Kevin Ingram to the city council and chambers’ audience. “We’re on track for our arterial roads along South Main Street,” Ingram said. “South Main rehabilitation (Lakeport Blvd. to First St.) is to be completed by late spring/summer of 2025. We’re also full into our strategic plans to address water and sewer main projects for Martin St. and Lakeshore Blvd.”
With the passage of Amendment C, the city has paved over 30% of its roadway network and with the exception of Paralell Dr. over by the DMV, this is the last arterial section in need of help, Ingram noted. “Together with (traffic) pavement projects we’ve been able to get a lot of pedestrian enhancement pavement projects done,” he added. “The biggest one filling up the sidewalk gaps that we’re missing on S. Main St, were recently completed.” The work included multiple ADA curb cut installations, along with three pedestrian crossings to be done by fall 2025. “On the other side of the road, in front of Dennis Fordham’s law practice over by Sun Dental and Chevron were remaining gaps in sidewalks,” Ingram said. “We’ve been diving in and out, the rebuilds looks real good and are complete.”
Meanwhile, along the 10th Street bikeway corridor, smaller segments have been completed. But the multi-mobile 11th Street project required moving pedestrian and bike traffic off the heavily trafficked road, re-routing it to the safer area of 10th Street, as work crews finished missing sections of 11th, putting in a bike path between Manzanita and Pool Streets as well as putting in some pedestrian crossings at 11th and High Streets. “We also found some funding to build 100 feet of sidewalk gap on 10th Street from North Street toward Tunis,” Ingram said. “Also, with the Green, Sayre and Loch project, we addressed the sidewalk gap and ADA ramp improvements.”
In addition, there has been several retail venue enhancements. “We continue to make strides, the biggest is the Old K-Mart site, now a Marshall’s and a Tractor Supply,” said Ingram. Marshall’s opened just before Christmas, while Tractor Supply is expected to be open before the summer. Planners continue to make progress with the vista Point Shopping Center. A demolition permit was obtained to remove a dilapidated building. They are working to get the Lake Family Resource Center with moving the Early HeadStart facility., while Tribal Health is ready to move forward with removing the debris of the older building remnants and progress with revitalization of the site as a medical campus and health center.
The city also welcomed several new businesses last year: Alley Grill, Harlowe’s Lounge, Arti Cafe (opens soon) and RSA+ Engineering. “We finished the old Dutch Harbor Hotel feasibility updates,” Ingram said. “Hopefully we get their development plans in place and a waterfront Hotel appears in the Old Dutch Harbor site. The other big achievement is the business license renewal process will be tremendously easier.”
Also, soon to be completed, five new single family homes, and three homes in the West Side Park Subdivision on Fenway, the city just has to finish the entitlement process. The city is also wending its way through the $35 million grant for Parkside Apartment complex and should break ground on 64 affordable units this summer.
What is more, Lakeport has $8 million in water and sewer projects, which buys two miles worth of a waterline and one mile of sewer line. The city put in the final touches of a water/sewer replacement along La Fiesta Market. In the meantime, work is nearing completion along Armstrong Street. Some of the underground fire suppression infrastructure will increase water pressure to meet fire service requirements for big projects proposed for development on Martin Street, Lakeport Blvd. and Lakeshore Blvd.
