DELTONA, Fla. – Frequent flooding has trapped residents in Deltona as roads remained closed for weeks and even months after major storms.
Elkcam Boulevard, in particular, has been a focal point of these issues, especially after hurricanes Nicole and Ian.
[Watch video below to get latest on project to halt flooding]
After years of challenges, the city is close to financing a project to elevate part of the street.
During a meeting Monday, the Deltona City Commission voted to accept a grant that will significantly lower the cost of getting the road lifted to give the water somewhere else to go.
“So, the opportunity arose with the Hazard Mitigation grant program administered through the state of Florida to make application to look at elevating that roadway and the project has come out with a favorable benefit cost analysis and we’re proceeding with the design engineering and permitting stage,” Deltona Deputy Director of Public Works Phyllis Wallace said.
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Donald Burke, who has lived right off of Elkcam Boulevard for over a decade, shared his experience with flooding, including in 2022, after hurricanes Nicole and Ian.
“About four times this area has flooded,” he said. “You couldn’t get out of here. It was flooded for, I’d say, four weeks before it went down.”
The road has two lakes on the north and south sides, making it particularly prone to flooding.
The Public Works Department has been working with the Florida Division of Emergency Management to secure a grant to raise a portion of the road to prevent it from filling up with water after hurricanes or heavy storms.
“The full price tag for Elkcam is estimated at a little over $6 million,” Wallace explained. “FEMA (via the grant) will pay 75%, the city is responsible for 25%, so, it is a win for the city for this project,” Wallace said. “While we cannot promise that it will never be impacted, hopefully, we will be well above the flood stage so that we no longer have the impact of having the roadway closed. This is crucial for our residents, as well as for the fire department, police department, and our public safety personnel.”
Wallace said the commission’s approval will allow the project to move forward with the engineering and design process.
“So far, I think the commission is looking favorably upon it. They understand the impacts of having any roadway shut down, let alone a major,” she told News 6.
This news is welcomed by residents like Burke, who worry that floods could be life-threatening.
“Well, it’s great because I have a mother-in-law who has Alzheimer’s,” he said. “She’s in her 90s, and if I have to get her out to the hospital, how am I going to get her (if it’s) flooded in? You know, how are they going to get to her? (...) There are a lot of elderly people in this area. It is an old Deltona neighborhood. It was built 40 years ago, approximately, and there are a lot of older people who need that access in this neighborhood.”
So, what’s next?
“I would suspect that the design engineering permit is going to be probably a 12-month period. So once that’s solidified and we have all that documentation we will be going back to the state for the actual construction,” Wallace said. “I would say the construction will probably be a 12 or 18-month project. It could be less because we do have some environmental impacts out there that we have to get over as far as wetlands and any other environmental issues that we might find when we’re out there for construction.”