Construction work is underway to transform five blocks on 14th Avenue South in the business district of South Park.

The $4.5 million project is the first major use of Bridging the Gap funds in the South Park Neighborhood. It has been designed to improve transportation for pedestrians, bicyclists as well as car and truck drivers.

From South Cloverdale Street to South Director Street the Seattle Department of Transportation will repave 14th Avenue South, install new sidewalks and curb ramps, upgrade traffic signals and enhance street lighting. Drainage systems in the area will also be improved and the South Park Connector trail will be completed.

To improve the aesthetics of the area 36 new trees will be installed along the street and public art will be installed throughout the five blocks on 14th Avenue South.

"Right now 14th Avenue is just a roadway. We're going to create a sense of neighborhood," said Rick Sheridan of Seattle Department of Transportation.

A local ceramics artist, Gregory Fields, was selected to create the art work that will appear be included in the reformation of 14th Avenue. At each end of the business district will stand ceramic pillars filled with carvings of different cultural symbols. Between them the sidewalks will be lined with textured and glazed ceramic tiles.

During the selection process Fields was asked to choose a theme that represented the identity of South Park. The artist decided to focus on the diverse cultures in his neighborhood.

"In the past South Park has been tough and run down. It's definitely having a renaissance now and this will only help," Fields said.

Fields hopes that the public art will bring additional interest to the neighborhood, and that the colors he used will hopefully brighten up the area, which he says has been "a little drab" in the past.

Construction on the center lane of 14th Avenue has already begun to improve the streets drainage system and pave the first layer of the new asphalt roadway. Meanwhile, there is no on-street parking and left turns have been limited.

Sheridan emphasized that the Seattle Department of Transportation is going to try and alleviate the impacts of construction as much as possible. He assures the community that one lane of traffic in each direction will always be open.

"There's going to be a little short term pain for long term gains that will benefit a wide variety of transit users," Sheridan said.

Sheridan is also confident that the improvements to 14th Avenue are changes that the community supports.

In 2006, community members developed the South Park Action Agenda, prioritizing improvements in their neighborhood. The current construction will address many of the environmental improvements the community requested.

Reymundo Olivas, who owns Multiservicios, a business on 14th Avenue South, said that the changes in South Park are necessary, and that he is looking forward to them. The business owner says that trucks driving the unstable streets shake his building and have caused cracks in the walls.

"It will help South Park in general and it will help each one of us," Olivas said.

Phase 2 of the construction on 14th Avenue South is expected to begin mid-September. Southbound traffic will be occasionally detoured while drainage work continues and curb ramps and sidewalks are replaced.

Rose Egge may be contacted at 932.0300 or rosee@robinsonnews.com