Major road paving project to begin Monday
The beginning of the holiday season also begins a major initiative in the city of Cape Coral.
The city will begin paving major roadways Monday with the resurfacing of Diplomat Parkway starting at Burnt Store Road to Santa Barbara Boulevard.
This four-mile segment is part of the first year of the city’s five-year major road paving plan. Nelson Road from Tropicana Parkway to Kismet Parkway also will be resurfaced in the north, while in the southeast, paving will be completed on the Everest / Shelby loop east of Del Prado.
Work is anticipated to be completed in April. The total cost is $4 million and about 14 miles of major roads will be paved.
Councilmember Jessica Cosden said projects like the ones being done on Diplomat and Nelson Road are sorely needed in her neck of the woods.
“In the north the roads have been in sore need of paving. One of the problems with having such a large city geographically is the need to keep up,” Cosden said. “Revenue diversification has helped us be able to pave the roads.”
“It’s what we promised the residents and now that the money is there, we’re fulfilling that promise,” Councilmember John Carioscia said. “The fun part about doing the heavy lifting with the financing is that we can go forward with the projects.”
The city’s three-year rolling budget includes $6.5 million each year to pave city streets, with $4.5 million directed to local roads and $2 million for major roads.
Drivers should exercise caution when traveling along these roadways during construction.
Major road paving projects initially were to begin in 2014 in conjunction with the local road resurfacing projects. While local road paving did start in 2014, paving the four-lane major roads, along with phases of the local road resurfacing, was put on hold pending the decision from the Florida Supreme Court on the city’s fire service assessment methodology.
With the court decision earlier this year in the city’s favor, FSA funds became available to fund fire services and freed up money needed to fully restart the city’s road paving plan.
“This is a boost to the council members because now all the things we said in the past is coming to fruition,” Carioscia said.
Phase II of the FY 2015 local road paving program already is under way. About 25 miles of local roads in the northeast and northwest Cape, and the southeast Cape near the Yacht Club are being resurfaced. The cost for this phase is $3.8 million.