Venice officials working seawall, glass barrier in hopes it serves as solution to flooding

New glass seawall coming to the City of Venice

FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon reports that the City of Venice is getting a new seawall and glass barrier design to fix damages caused by Hurricane Idalia in 2023. The city hopes the new design will help strengthen future protection from flooding.

VENICE, Fla. - The City of Venice is getting a new design of its seawall and glass barrier. It's a fix from Hurricane Idalia in 2023, and the city believes the new seawall and glass barrier will help strengthen their protection against flooding at the intersection of the Esplanade and Tarpon Center Drive.

Local perspective:

When it starts to rain, winter visitors, Tom and Barb Liszewski, know to stay off of Tarpon Center Drive. Their friends have experienced it while driving too.

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"It can flood up over the seawall," said Tom Liszewski.

"He was coming back and said you couldn’t see the curve or the road to turn," said Barb Liszewski.

Big picture view:

The City of Venice is calling their fix the "Nature Based Flood Mitigation Pilot Project." One of the changes includes a seawall topped with about four feet of glass.

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"The seawall was damaged during Idalia, and it’s been in need of repair ever since," said Jon Kramer, the assistant city engineer. "The subsequent storms have damaged it more and more."

Kramer said it's part of a $3 million project, half of which is funded by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The glass barriers are aimed at and should help with flood protection.

"Part of this project, we are rebuilding the seawall. We are going to keep it at its current elevation, but we are going to be installing some glass flood barriers," Kramer said. "They’re about four feet high to effectively raise the height of the seawall and limit future overtopping and storm surge flooding of the intersection."

Dig deeper:

If successful, the City of Venice will look to see where else it could be applied.

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Reef balls will also be installed, providing habitat for fish and other marine life. Crews are also working to replace old sewer lines and add new water services.

The Liszewski's welcome any fix to flooding and one that comes with a view.

"I like it. I thought it would be higher than that, so I kind of like that you can have a view as you’re walking by, and it’s protective for many reasons," said Barb Liszewski.

What's next:

The project should be finished by June.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered through interviews with residents and the assistant city engineer.

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