TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — The FAMU extension Way Project completes a new phase and connects more parts of the city. It's a beautification project that's been more than 10 years in the making.
"I saw it come all the way from nothing to what it is now," said David Daniels, who lives in Tallahassee.
Daniels thinks back on what the area once was when FAMU Way was a two-way road that he says he wouldn't dare walk. Now, it's a road he travels frequently.
"I think it's very beautiful. The walk down here is very therapeutic. You can walk down here and look at the beautiful landscape, and I think they do a very good job with the city maintaining. I think it's excellent," Daniels said.
The vision of what the area could be all started ten years ago. It's a project commissioner Curtis Richardson has watched closely.
"This is a destination, and it's just a start of the development that we are going to see, and revitalization that we're going to see on the south side of Tallahassee."
Extension project goals include easing traffic between FAMU Way at Wahnish Way and Lake Bradford Road, making it easier for people on Tallahassee's southside to get around by adding sidewalks and creating Bicycle pathways and a multi-use trail.
"Overall the actual extension seems like a good thing to me," says Michael Lingenfelter, co-owner of All Saints Cafe.
The coffee shop sits on the Railroad Avenue part of the extension.
With the project near complete, Ligenfelter said he's already seeing people in this community benefit from those changes.
"I see lots of people utilizing playgrounds the water fountains off to the side in the area so it must be fun for the neighborhood surrounding to have something nearby to go to," said Ligenfelter.
The city will celebrate the completion of the FAMU WAY extension Friday at 10 a.m. Richardson said it will also eventually connect to the Tallahassee International Airport once the city completes its Southwest Gateway Project.
