Detours began earlier this week in downtown Ocala as part of a series of roadway improvements and construction of the city’s second parking garage, with major projects scheduled for the area through 2027.
Last month, the city of Ocala hosted two public meetings to provide details about several phases of construction and detours in downtown Ocala associated with drainage improvements to SW 3rd Avenue.
Phase 1 of that construction, which began earlier this week, has resulted in a portion of SW 3rd Avenue being closed between E Silver Springs Boulevard and SW Broadway Street, along the eastern side of the RaceTrac gas station.
According to the city, the project will be completed in five phases.
The city says it will provide updates on road closures and other information when the dates of the next phases are known. Those closures will be reflected in a map maintained digitally by the city.
The roadway upgrades and second parking garage construction come amidst a focused effort by the city to improve its parking space offering in downtown Ocala.
On Tuesday, they continued those efforts by opening Parking Lot 5 and Parking Lot 9 for public use, adding more than 100 parking spaces to the city’s inventory in the process.
Both of those parking lots are free to the public throughout October, with the latter transitioning to a metered rate of $0.75 per hour beginning November 1.
In addition to Parking Lot 5 and Parking Lot 9, in June, the city agreed to open Parking Lot 7 to the public.
That lot officially opened to the public for free use in July and remained free throughout the Summer. Although it will remain open to the public, it will eventually have a meter installed.
At the same time that it opened Parking Lot 7 , the city also opened additional spaces at the Marion Theatre.
Weeks before that addition, the city opened free public parking at the intersection of W Fort King Street and SW 3rd Avenue in April.
In addition to all of the lots and metered spaces, the city also offers hundreds of free parking spaces at Parking Garage One. Earlier this year, city officials voted to make facade improvements to Parking Garage One, which is located at 296 Broadway Street.
