20 years later, city reopens Front Avenue between 13th, 14th Streets

The long-closed stretch of Front Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets is again open to the public.

City workers removed the orange plastic barricades that have blocked traffic at the 14th Street end of the street Wednesday at 9 a.m., unceremoniously reopening the avenue after about 20 years of being closed.

The stretch has been closed to traffic since the city ceded ownership of it to Fieldcrest Mills in 1996 in exchange for the right of way needed to build the 13th Street Bridge. W.C. Bradley bought Fieldcrest in 2003. It has for year been used as a construction staging area for a variety of downtown projects.

Even though the street will be reopened to traffic, it will remain possession of the Bradley Co. for the time being. Once the land around it has been developed, the street will be ceded over to the city, which will be responsible for maintenance.

The stretch begins under the 13th Street Bridge and ends at the 14th Street roundabout and the base of the Frank Martin Pedestrian Bridge.

This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 9:49 AM with the headline "20 years later, city reopens Front Avenue between 13th, 14th Streets."