The strengthening economy will bring a broad range of construction projects to the Whittier-Pico Rivera areas in 2014, according to area city officials who say it’s a welcome change after the economic doldrums that followed the Great Recession of 2008.

New buildings for new businesses are set for construction, city capital improvement projects will start, and work on various highway, road, railroad underpass projects will continue.

Also, plans for future construction are expected to take major steps toward getting the projects under way, according to city officials.

“Looking ahead, there are clearly a number of very positive items in store for Whittier,” City Manager Jeff Collier said Tuesday in an email.

However, those positives will be tempered by continuing budget difficulties. Collier said his office is projecting a Whittier budget deficit of $1.6 million in 2014-15. It is expected to increase to $3.2 million in 2015-16.

Topping the list of positive projects in 2014 will be progress on developing a mixed-use housing and retail complex on the 74-acre site of the former Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility, 11850 E, Whittier Blvd.

Environmental studies are underway, and the project is expected to come before the Planning Commission and City Council for public hearings in the summer, said Collier

The project “will transform the site to a productive use that will contribute to our local economy,” he said.

Renewed interest in new housing proposals will be seen throughout the city, according to Collier. The projects include proposals for the former Mitsubishi car dealership site, the Toyota used car lot, the former Zieman boat trailer manufacturing site at Mar Vista Street near Whittier Boulevard and a housing project on the southeast corner of Penn Street and Comstock Avenue.

“The city will be discussing several mixed-use projects in Uptown Whittier that were put on hold due to the lack of financing during the Great Recession,” he said.

Plans also include construction of a new LA Fitness Center on the site of the former Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealership on Whittier Boulevard, a new Oakmont senior living facility on the site of the former Harris Buick GMC dealership, construction of two Starbucks drive-thru coffee outlets, one at Whittier and Colima Road and one at Norwalk and Beverly boulevards, plus the repair and remodeling of Polly’s Pies on Whittier Boulevard, which was heavily damaged by fire.

In Pico Rivera, completion of the long-awaited plans for the $84 million railroad underpass at Durfee Road tops the city’s list of 2014 projects, according to City Manager Ron Bates. The plans are expected to be 50 percent complete in the first quarter of the year, and finished by the end of the year.

The project will provide safety and congestion relief at the Union Pacific Rail Road crossing.

Bates has informed the City Council of his plans to retire, and a search process has started to find a replacement. City Councilman David Armenta, in his campaign statements before his November re-election, called finding a replacement who can fill the shoes of Bates one of the biggest jobs the council will face this year. Bates, 67, who has been working without compensation to help the city reduce expenses since Nov. 1, 2012, has overseen $100 million in capital improvement projects, such as the Passons Boulevard railroad underpass, a new library and the renovation of four city parks. He was appointed city manager in January 2011.

After years of cost-cutting and budget deficits, Bates said he expects the City Council this year will adopt a balanced budget that doesn’t dip into reserves.

“I would say for the next couple of years for most cities, it looks pretty good,” Bates said Tuesday in a telephone interview from outside Eugene, Ore.

He said the city also plans to begin the first phase of opening a park-campground that has been planned for the site of a former campground near the Pico Rivera Sports Arena.

“It will open some space that we could actually add to the city, which hasn’t happened for a long time,” said Bates.

Also expected in 2014 is a decision by Metro on whether to build a Gold Line Light Rail extension on the north 60 Freeway route from Montebello to South El Monte, or the south route along Washington Boulevard and serving the cities of Commerce, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs and Whittier.