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NSBNews.net photos by Henry Frederick / New Smyrna Beach Assistant City Manager points to locations off the I-95 interchange with S.R. 44 for new gateway signage. In the photo the left, he's standing on the southwest side of the I-95 ramp where a 12-foot high concrete wall with the city seal would welcome motorists to New Smyrna Beach. A smaller wall would go inside the greenery for motorists turning north onto I-95 or be seen by those traveling south on 44 and looking left.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Drivers entering New Smyrna Beach from Interstate 95 by the end of 2012 will be greeted by a new City entrance way as they exit onto State Road 44. Next week, the City will break ground on two Gateway Beautification projects along the state roadway.
Back-to-back ground breaking ceremonies will begin at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, February 1, at the southeast corner of S.R. 44 and I-95 with parking on Surfboard Street. Officials then will move to the second gateway location at S.R. 44 and West Canal Street.
“When visitors enter our City, we want them to know that they have arrived and we want them to feel welcome,” said Khalid Resheidat, New Smyrna Beach's assistant city manager and head of public works. “The gateways also are a beautification enhancement on our main thoroughfare.”
S.R. 44 is the City’s primary gateway, which funnels traffic from interstates 4 and 95.
The gateways will feature a signature concrete wall that includes the City of New Smyrna Beach official city seal, Resheidat said. Landscaping and irrigation will accompany the signage, he added.
The combined cost of the gateways is $1.4 million with construction funded jointly by the Florida Department of Transportation and the Volusia Transportation Planning Organization. Construction is expected to be completed by September 2012.
Wednesday’s ceremonies follow two others to be held Tuesday, during which the City will break ground on a seawall, pier and lighting improvement project at Riverside Park and cut the ribbon on a sidewalk beautification project on Myrtle Avenue.
NSB News is a 24/7 Internet newspaper in New Smyrna Beach accessed through NSBNews.net and VolusiaNews.net, launched April 7, 2008, by award-winning breaking news and investigative journalist Henry Frederick and award-winning blogger Peter Mallory. It is the first fully-online newspaper in Florida and among the few in the nation with continuous editorial content picked up by Google News Directories.
