JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With more showers and storms on the way, San Marco residents and businesses are worried about more flooding.
Neighbors had to wade through water on Wednesday afternoon just to get to their cars as rain once again turned streets into rivers in the flood-prone area.
Residents say they are beyond frustrated, especially with a multi-million dollar project already underway to try to fix the problem.
“The first year I lived here, this street didn’t flood. But after they turned the pumps off ahead of a storm, it’s been flooding every time it rains hard,” Lydia Diggs said.
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On Wednesday, the street flooded, cars stalled and JFRD had to help drivers stuck in the rising water.
The city of Jacksonville says they are working to fix the issue.
Phase One of the LaSalle Street drainage project wrapped up earlier this year. It included a new pump station, outfall, and upgraded piping.
Now, the city is in Phase Two of the project, but flooding issues continue.
The city told News4JAX the pump station is working, but the issue now is upgrading the pipes that carry water from the neighborhood to that pump. The city provided this statement:
“Construction of the LaSalle Pump Station was completed, and it continues to be operational. The challenge remains increasing the pipe size from the low points in the neighborhood to the pump station, which the contractor is working on as Phase 2 of the project. They are evaluating the current conditions to determine what temporary measures might be helpful to alleviate local issues while construction of the longer-term fix continues, including the possibility of deploying mobile pumps either by the contractor or the City.”
Once the project is complete, it should
- Alleviate flooding on LaSalle Street and in the neighborhood
- Alleviate flooding at the intersection of LaSalle Street & San Marco Boulevard
- Improve the overall capability of the stormwater system in San Marco
A timeline of the project’s progress is readily available on the city’s website. In the meantime, residents are left to handle the rising waters.
“I’ve been coming through here for 20 years. They always say it’s going to get better — but clearly, it hasn’t,” said Aaron Backherms. “That wasn’t even a heavy rain, and we’re flooded again.”
