Plant City will soon have redesigned streets and drainage system
Roseland Park Road Improvements
The Plant City City Commission passed a proposal to redesign the drainage upgrades within the Roseland Park subdivision, on Monday, Jan. 10.
This is a revision of the initial improvement project that the city commission authorized on April 22, 2019.
The objective is to reconstruct the subdivision’s drainage system to reduce flooding that the neighborhood has had to endure.
Based on environmental concerns from the community, the new design will include re-routing the drainage pipes as to prevent potential damage to tree roots.
“This redesign is because of their input,” said Plant City City Manager Bill McDaniel. “We have a plan. We’re ready to move forward with it. We listened to the neighbors.”
The Plant City Engineering Department has pinpointed 11 trees within the neighborhood that should be removed to accommodate the piping system.
These trees may already be in bad condition.
An analysis also concluded which trees should remain preserved, including several large oak trees.
Another revision is converting the already dormant and unused South Court Street into an open field.
However, a paved sidewalk will be constructed there.
Senior Engineer Frank Coughenour, of the Plant City Engineering Department is overseeing the project.
“It came to our [attention] that there are no driveways, nobody that really services that street,” Coughenour said. “We’ve opted to just eliminate the street entirely, turn it into a meandering sidewalk.”
A homeowner in the neighborhood has a private pond that has consistently been receiving runoff water due to flooded streets. He is devising a plan with the city to interconnect its new piping system with his pond in order to alleviate any water buildup. The City of Plant City will fund the designing, while the homeowner pays for the construction on his property.
“By having this agreement with the property owner at back of the subdivision, we’re also going to be able to maintain that very large pond that sits back there,” McDaniel said. “And quite frankly, every gallon of our discharge it takes that helps us, that’s less that we have to move into the wetlands, to the east of the subdivision. I think it’s a win-win on several levels.”
This new agenda will be in addition to the initial plans to reconstruct streets and curbs, as well as sidewalk ramps that are up to standard with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The new design changes will cost approximately $28,058 and the construction phase at $38,015. This amounts to $66,073 with an overall project budget of $2,164,000.
The Roseland Park Drainage Project is expected to begin September of this year and completed by April 2023.
The City Commission agreed that the project was a long time in the making and should push forward.
They passed the proposal by 5-0.
Street Resurfacing Project
Also, the City Commission unanimously voted in favor of a contract for street resurfacing.
That contract is with C.W. Roberts Contracting Inc., which will oversee the construction of the road remodeling.
The project will include resurfacing the parking lots of the Parks and Recreation Department administrative offices and Fire Station No. 2.
Also, sidewalk ramp modifications will be made in the project area to meet the standards of the ADA.
Twelve streets, spanning over 4 miles in total, will be resurfaced as well. Those streets are:
Laura Street. – from Warnell Street to Maryland Avenue.
Ohio Street. – from Allen Street to Park Road.
Renfro Street – from Knight Street to Maryland Avenue
Warren Street – from Knight Street to Park Road
Knight Street – from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd to Alabama Street
Johnson Street – from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd to Alabama Street
Allen Street – from Jenkins Street to Alabama Street
Merrin Street – from Jenkins Street to Alabama Street
Warnell Street – from Laura Street to Alabama Street
Gordon Street – from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd to Renfro Street
Gordon Street – from Warren Street to Alabama Street
Morgan Street – from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd to Alabama Street
Jenkins Street – from Allen Street to Warnell Street
Any funds from this project that are not used will go toward program alternates.
These include resurfacing of eight additional streets and minor drainage improvements at the Parks and Recreation Department administrative offices.
A contract is now set in place with a budget of $1.3 million for the Street Resurfacing Project. Construction is anticipated to begin in mid to late March following the Florida Strawberry Festival, and to wrap up by the Summer.
Another soon-to-come road project by the Florida Department of Transportation, is repaving 6.3 miles of Paul Buchman Highway (State Road 39A).
Construction will run from the Paul Buchman Highway intersection with Knights Griffin Road in Plant City and head north to the borderline with Crystal Springs, in Pasco County.
The road work will end where Paul Buchman Highway intersects with County Line Road to the west and Florida Avenue to the east.
The $11.3 million project is expected to begin during the Spring of this year and to be completed by the Spring of next year, 2023.
Also, a sidewalk on the north side of Reynolds Street (State Road 574) from Turkey Creek Road to Alexander Street, is currently being developed.
Construction began in January, is expected to be complete by this Summer, and will cost approximately $1.3 million.
