St. Petersburg City Council approves Shore Acres floodgate study

Discussion on Shore Acres floodgate

The wheels are now in motion for a study to see how two floodgates in Shore Acres will work to eliminate future flooding. St. Petersburg City Council approved having an engineering company analyze data to determine if this is the best course of action for the entire city.?Chris Cato reports.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The wheels are now in motion for a study to see how two floodgates in Shore Acres will work to eliminate future flooding. St. Petersburg City Council approved having an engineering company analyze data to determine if this is the best course of action for the entire city. 

What we know:

As communities continue to recover a year after a one-two punch from Mother Nature, leaders continue to come up with solutions to mitigate impacts from future storms. 

"The idea here is that Mother Nature decides to do different things, and we are able to accommodate on such a mass scale," City of St. Petersburg Councilor Mike Harding said. 

One of those solutions is to add two floodgates in the Shore Acres neighborhood. 

Director of Engineering and Capital Improvements Brejesh Prayman added, "this is where we take a look at the innovation and think outside the box." 

What they're saying:

He explained other communities will benefit from the project. 

"The tidal gates at two locations within Shore Acres because it's the water body that provides the discharge of all communities toward Tampa Bay," Prayman said. 

Courtesy: City of St. Petersburg

The gates would sit along Canal #7 near 46th Avenue North East and Canal #7 at Bayou Grand Boulevard Northeast. 

They'd be similar to the ones used in New Orleans, operated remotely or by sensors and would be the first in our area. 

The backstory:

The goal is to protect Shore Acres and other communities like Euclid Heights, Placida Bayou and Edgemoor. 

"Many of these communities were highly impacted by Helene and the rainfall impacts of Milton," Prayman added. "With Milton we had extreme rain events that didn't have time to relieve itself."

The other side:

District 2 City Councilor Brandi Gabbard supports the study, but did receive some concerns from many people who live in her district.

"They are a repetitive loss neighborhood, Riviera Bay specifically, what do we say to them when they say to us where's the water going to go," Gabbard said. "Are you going to make us the next Shore Acres?"

Prayman responded that the whole project is preliminary and that is something they will be looking at while completing the study.

"One of the key elements in the modeling we do is to ensure the impacts of way action, so we don't spread or cause adverse impacts on adjoining communities," Prayman explained. 

Big picture view:

Courtesy: Kris Clayton

With the hope of making sure high water doesn't inundate thousands of homes again. 

"This will bring relief to just a phenomenal amount of people," City of St. Petersburg Councilor Mike Harding said.