SANFORD, Fla. – Construction starts Wednesday on a project that aims to fix long-standing drainage issues in one Sanford neighborhood.
Work on the Mellonville Avenue Drainage Project includes replacing and upsizing the existing storm pipe to address flooding issues on 20th Street east of Washington Avenue. A new retention pond will also be put in between Washington Avenue and Palm Way.
The city of Sanford’s public works and utilities department says it’s one of the areas that has been overwhelmed by heavy rain before. Much of the existing infrastructure that was installed in the 40s and 50s simply cannot handle the capacity.
The upgrades will provide additional storage and allow water to recede faster from areas like 20th Street between Mellonville Avenue and Summerlin Avenue, and the intersection of Mellonville Avenue at Crescent Street and Randolph Street. The city’s public works department says it can take over an hour for standing water to drain from those areas when there is a large rain event.
This drainage project aims to get results by upgrading infrastructure that could fail in the future and create a serious flooding situation.
News 6 spoke to neighbors Tuesday who pointed out the issues at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Crescent Street, north of where the city will be putting in a new pond.
Cory Mascaro, who lives at the opposite end of the park now, says he’s been lucky.
“We’re high and dry,” said Mascaro. “They built this property not too long ago. For the rest of the neighborhood though, especially towards that inlet down there it does get a little wet.”
Mascaro says he’s only noticed issues when there is a lot of rain. During the hurricane season in 2022, some roads were underwater.
Hurricane Ian magnified existing stormwater issues in the city, and leaders have been working to address them.
A drainage project in the Georgetown community will create a new trunk line to carry stormwater to Lake Monroe. Work will be split into four phases to reduce runoff that currently goes into the Pump Branch system and the Mellonville Avenue system.
The city expects work on the Mellonville drainage project will take a year to complete. Detours and delays are expected during the construction.
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