Is Jacksonville's stormwater system adequate? How many times has the Riverside area flooded this year alone? Is there anything we can do solve this problem?
Yes.
Most of the old neighborhoods have undersized pipes that are in many cases full of sediment or collapsed. I watched them pull out a pipe from San Marco Blvd a few months ago when they were replacing them. Packed full of dirt!
So, when we are rebuilding streets to place streetcar rails, we need to put in new and larger pipes.
In other areas, the only solution is a stormwater pump station (we have two in San Marco, with a third in the planning stages).
In some areas, parks and open space can be designed to store water during extreme rain events. The duck pond in my neighborhood worked wonders for that purpose. So did Whatley Park and River Oaks Park. It looked pretty amazing, but the adjacent streets were (for the most part) passable. Hogans Creek was originally designed to act this way, but those basins have since been filled in. And you saw what happened as a result.
The stormwater fee was created during Peyton's term as a means for funding these improvements. I haven't checked on the status, and need to for fear that they are robbing this to cover general budget woes (or worse, BJP cost overruns).
facebook
twitter