Core area resident Joe Hardiman asks a question about flooding during an informational session last month at Gulf Stream School. He and other residents posed more than a half hour’s worth of questions to town and construction project officials. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Steve Plunkett
The much-anticipated plan to rid Gulf Stream’s Core area of stormwater flooding and pooling in the streets kicks off in earnest on April 24 and will work its way across the neighborhood through December of next year.
“It’s going to be inconvenient for a year and a half at least. But in the end it’s going to be worth it. It’s going to really improve the quality of life and the aesthetics of our town,”
Mayor Scott Morgan told about 70 residents who attended an informational meeting last month.
Silvio Rubi of Roadway Construction LLC said his crews will arrive in Gulf Stream on April 22 for some initial activity with “clearing and grubbing” operations to begin two days later on Golfview Drive west of Polo Drive. Clearing is the removal of vegetation, trees, rocks and other debris from the construction area, including landscaping, while grubbing is the removal of roots and stumps left behind after the clearing procedure.
The team will go door to door to see whether homeowners want to move shrubbery elsewhere on their properties instead of having it bulldozed away.
The $13 million Core project is divided into two phases of work. The first phase is Polo Drive and streets west of Polo and will continue until next February. Then construction shifts to phase two, the streets east of Polo.
Morgan said this is year six of the town’s 10-year capital improvement program.
“This is really the important year. This is what we have saved our money for. We have for 10 years been building up our reserves so we can pay for this particular project,” he said.
The age of the town’s water lines prompted the overall project. Town commissioners decided that if they were going to tear up the streets to replace the pipes, they might as well put down new asphalt, Morgan said.
“The water lines in the Core neighborhood district are very old, 50 to 60 years old, well past their life expectancy, and they need to be replaced well before anything untoward were to occur,” he said.
The project will also regrade the streets to better channel stormwater toward outfalls, and it will add curbs in strategic locations and 2-foot-wide “valley gutters” throughout the town.
Baxter and Woodman Consulting Engineers have set up a hotline for residents to lodge complaints (855-228-3436) and plan to create a website to track progress (www.CoreAreaRoadwork.com). The website also will be accessible from the town’s website (www.gulf-stream.org).
“So any concerns you might possibly have will come directly to my office, and then I will immediately get on top of what the problem is. And you will get it resolved as soon as possible,” said Rick Chipman, the construction project manager for Baxter and Woodman.
“We’re going to coordinate all the time with all the residents to make sure all your needs are being fulfilled.”
But, he said, “We need to be blunt and let you know that construction of this project will disrupt your normal daily transportation and other activities, but it’s not going to prevent you from doing anything. … So hang in there. … I know you’re going to be very happy with the project.”
Construction schedule
2024
April 22: Initial mobilization
April 24: Phase one begins at Golfview Drive with clearing and grubbing
May 3: Removal of existing drainage begins on Polo Drive
June 17: Water main and stormwater installation begins on Polo Drive
July 2: Clearing and grubbing at Palm Way
Aug. 21: Clearing and grubbing at Banyan Road
Nov. 6: Clearing and grubbing at Wright Way
Dec. 11: Clearing and grubbing at Old School Road
2025
Feb. 16: Phase one is substantially complete
Feb. 17: Phase two initial mobilization
Feb. 20: Phase two begins at Gulfstream Road and Golfview Drive with clearing and grubbing
Feb. 27: Water main and stormwater installation begins on Gulfstream Road
March 20: Clearing and grubbing at Middle Road
April 17: Clearing and grubbing at Lakeview Drive
June 15: Clearing and grubbing at Banyan Road
July 16: Clearing and grubbing at Oleander Way
Sept. 2: Clearing and grubbing at Bermuda Way
Oct. 14: Phase two is substantially complete
Oct. 15: Final asphalt placement begins on total project
Dec. 13: Project complete
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