Southeast Seminole Heights construction continues to cause headaches for nearby residents
TAMPA, Fla. - In southeast Seminole Heights construction on a flooding relief program is taking longer than expects, and it's frustrating residents. In some cases, driveways have been inaccessible for weeks forcing some people to park several streets away from their homes.
According to the city's contractor, there's been some miscommunication by some people involved as well as supply-chain issues from the pandemic which have caused some delays.
For the last four months, a stretch of East Caracas Street near North Taliaferro Avenue has been nothing but dirt and dust. Some residents say they've learned to live with it. However, they say the noises and vibrations have been hard to bear.
"The shaking of the house whenever the excavator goes by is making our house feel like it's literally going down the road," Seminole Heights resident Nicholas Meyer said.
Meyer says the vibrations have caused cracks in his tile floor. He's one of several residents feeling frustrated.
"It's been five months of, you know, can we park in our driveway? Can we not where do we have to go to bring the groceries home? Like, how can we walk our dogs? Can we not walk our dogs for a couple of months? It was like a 20-foot deep, ten-foot wide pit that at was my street," Southeast Seminole Heights Civic Association Treasurer Jason Marlow said.
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Tuesday night about 50 residents came together for a special meeting hosted by the city to update the neighborhood on the construction related to the Flooding Relief Program.
"It is quite disruptive, but it's benefits to all Seminole Heights neighborhoods will be long-lasting," City of Tampa Contract Administrator PJ Callaway said.
The project – which started in the fall of 2021 – is supposed to fix ongoing flooding issues common during heavy rains, but the timeline has stretched longer than expected. Neighbors on Caracas Street learned last week construction will now take longer after workers installed a six-foot storm pipe incorrectly.
Residents like Meyer believe the city is learning from their missteps and doing better and is hopeful the project will be worth the wait.
"People can endure a lot but after about four months of it and not really having any answers as far as exactly when it's going to be done, that's probably the biggest concern," Meyer said.
The construction was initially set to be completed in the fall of 2023, but because of delays is now expected to be completed in February 2025.