Frankford Avenue in Fishtown could soon be a more welcoming, walkable destination thanks to the efforts of the New Kensington Community Development Corporation.

Since 2004, the NKCDC has been meeting with residents to gather input for an extensive streetscape project, and those efforts should come to fruition within the next few weeks.

The plan is a sweeping revitalization of this section of Frankford Avenue - covering a half-mile stretch from Palmer Street to York Street - that will be similar to the South Street Streetscape project, said Ryan Briggs, Frankford Avenue Corridor Coordinator for the NKCDC.

"This wasn't a command decision," said Briggs of the significant amount of community input used in determining how the project would take shape.

"The heart of this project is to create an environment that people want to visit," he continued. "We wanted to create a destination."

The project is funded through the city's ReStore retail incentive grant program - which provides funding to improve commercial corridors throughout the city - along with funds from the Hometown Streets Project, a federal program that funnels funds through PennDOT.

PennDOT contracted L.C. Costa Construction, of Warminster, Pa., for the $1.15 million job.

According to Briggs, the NKCDC hopes to begin the project by late November or early December.

"They picked Frankford because it's a burgeoning avenue," he said of the city's decision to grant the ReStore funding. "It's a calculated investment on their part. There have been visible improvements to this area and the city wanted to encourage that."

The overhaul includes the installation of new benches, approximately 39 new street trees and solar-powered BigBelly compacting trashcans, similar to those recently installed near City Hall.

The project will also see the creation of two custom, illuminated bus shelters with colored tiles decorating the facade.

These will be installed on the south sides of Frankford Avenue's intersections at Palmer Street and at Dauphin Street.

Additionally, bulbs in streetlights along the avenue will be updated to provide a clearer, brighter light source for better illumination in the evening.

The shapes of the streetlights themselves will also be modernized to more effectively cast light onto the street and sidewalk.

Also, new color-coded signage will be installed at each intersection to help visitors to quickly identify their location along the street and provide pedestrians with helpful information.

In what might be the most extensive overhaul coming to the avenue, each block in the impacted area will receive a near-total replacement of sidewalks and curbs.

However, Briggs was quick to note that the sidewalk installations will be staggered so that only one side of each block would be worked on at any given time.

This will let each block keep one lane of parking open during the construction phase, while the parking lane on the side being worked on will be converted into a temporary sidewalk.

Briggs said this would help make walking through the corridor easier during the construction period, and he said no street traffic would be interrupted during construction.

"No one is going to have sidewalk interruptions for more than a couple weeks," he promised. "It's not like that whole area will be ripped up for months."

Finally, to help bring a little creative flair to the neighborhood, NKCDC will add an additional four "art racks" to the Frankford Avenue corridor. Currently, eight similar "art racks" - artistic sculptures that serve as bike racks- dot the streetscape.

Briggs said that the city is currently reviewing designs the NKCDC selected from four local artists to add to the popular, utilitarian artworks.

"We really want to make this a place that sticks out in people's minds," said Briggs. "We want to install interesting things on the street, interesting things for people to see. I think of it as public art."

While the NKCDC hopes to begin construction soon, Briggs said that currently, he's not sure when the project would be complete.

It's difficult in the winter to lay concrete for the sidewalks, he said, therefore, the construction company may hold off on that part of the project until the weather is warmer.

"The timeframe is still a little bit up in the air," said Briggs. "A huge component is pouring cement for sidewalks. That takes a long time in the winter. They'll probably wait until the spring."

The NKCDC is hoping to have the project completed by the fall of next year.

Reporter Hayden Mitman can be reached at 215-354-3124 or hmitman@phillynews.com