CRA staff and contractors updated the Community Redevelopment Agency Thursday on the Phase 4 coastal resiliency street and drainage project and on Florida Department of Transportation pump-station work along State Road A1A.

Burkhart Construction project manager Adam Rosmel told the CRA the East–West storm drainage installation is complete for the Phase 4 area (Harrison to Hyacinth Terrace) and that crews had installed new manholes tying the side-street systems into the FDOT A1A drainage network. The new manholes include Wapro check valves placed on the CRA side of the tie-in as a pilot to prevent backflow into the newly upgraded side-street systems. Rosmel said crews have also completed about 90% of franchise utility conduit installation on the East–West streets and are progressing on streetscape and roadway work (Van Buren is under construction and expected to take four to five weeks for the roadway phase).

FDOT project manager Jesus Sarmiento said FDOT has started construction on four pump stations planned along A1A (Sheridan Street, Franklin Street, Van Buren and Bougainvillea). Sarmiento said Sheridan and Bougainvillea are active work sites; Sheridan has sheet piling under way and is expected to proceed to concrete bulkhead and inlet/pump installation. FDOT estimated the overall pump-station program will run to summer 2028, with the first two locations potentially completed in about a year to 18 months and the remainder following.

Board members and staff pressed FDOT and CRA staff on maintenance, hydraulic connectivity and interim measures during high tides. Public commenter Bob Glickman and several board members described observed flooding and “bubbling up” from older FDOT outfalls where tide and groundwater find alternative paths into the street system. CRA staff and Burkhart described the Wapro pilot as a stopgap measure that protects the CRA’s side of the network, but noted the FDOT system’s internal condition remains unknown to the CRA and may be the limiting factor in preventing flooding on A1A. CRA engineering staff said the agency is producing inflow-and-infiltration (I&I) reports documenting damaged or compromised pipe and inlets and has been sharing them with FDOT for repair.

Vin (CRA public-works lead) told the board the pilot Wapro installations have reduced ordinary rainfall street flooding at pilot sites but have not stopped tidal backflow where older outfalls or breaches exist. He told the board the long-term solution is seawalls, properly designed elevated outfalls and pump stations of appropriate capacity for their basins. He warned against hydraulically interconnecting every basin into a single supernetwork; instead he and other staff said smaller, adequately sized pump stations serving discrete basins provide resilience without creating single points of failure.

Board members urged FDOT to expedite seawall and pump work and requested a consolidated map showing which streets and basins will be handled by each pump station so the CRA can identify remaining gaps. Several board members asked the CRA and FDOT to provide a list of maintenance requests and a status report on FDOT repairs; FDOT staff agreed to provide updates and to coordinate with the CRA on possible temporary pumping support during king-tide events.

Ending

CRA staff and FDOT agreed to continue weekly coordination of lane closures and construction sequencing and to return to the CRA with a basin map, schedules and the status of the FDOT maintenance items that CRA staff have reported. CRA staff said they will keep installing pilot Wapro check valves on the city side while pressing FDOT to repair and maintain the trunk system and to accelerate seawall and pump-station work where feasible.