Six month project is slated to begin by October.
During the period for public comments at the May 27 city commission meeting, resident Allen Sandor aired his safety and financial concerns about East Reynolds Street, between Palmer Street and the railroad tracks. According to Sandor, the city deploys a vacuum truck to the location weekly and blocks one lane while working. Sandor pointed out that school buses travel the street, while cars weave in and out to get ahead of the buses and other cars to get through the single lane—which is a safety concern. Mayor Kilton responded by saying the city is in the process of rectifying the problem at that site.
On June 23, city commissioners took the next step to solve the problem when they voted 5-0 to authorize the city manager to execute a construction work order to replace a sewer main on Reynolds Street. The project will install over 200 feet of new eight-inch sewer main and manholes to protect the public health, safety, and welfare of the downtown occupants. The existing sewer main will be grouted and left in place. Reynolds, which is a one-way street heading east, will be fully closed between North Palmer Street and North Michigan Avenue during the construction. The cost for the work is $584,585.
“This is not an elective procedure,” City Manager Bill McDaniel said. “This is an absolute necessity. We have a collapsed sewer system there at the railroad tracks, and it is a situation that must be addressed. There is no option. In fact, what we have been doing is exploring options. We were looking at rerouting and different strategies, but they won’t work, we are back to deep trenching cuts, and jack and bore under the railroad tracks to restore the sewer system—push the pipe through the earth with hydraulic machinery. You don’t have to excavate it.”
This sewer replacement construction requires a permit from the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission, the Florida Department of Transportation, and CSX. For the project schedule, the city is seeking to get permits by October to be able to break ground that month. If permits are issued earlier, the city will break ground earlier. The project will take about six months from start to completion.
“Closing down Reynolds Street at Palmer is going to be very impactful,” McDaniel said. “People need to be aware of that, be prepared for it, and understand it is going to be an extended period of time that goes on.”
Since it is US 92, much of the traffic on the road is truckers following their GPS directions. GPS may not show the road closure and detours. The city has a detour plan in place in downtown, but McDaniel is discussing with FDOT layered detours, primarily to have semis turn at Alexander instead of at Wheeler. Turns from Reynolds onto Palmer will be tight for semis, and the street is paved with brick. “We are going to mitigate as much as we can, but we are not going to mitigate it 100 percent. We are still going to have issues with traffic coming down into what is basically going to be a dead end for a little while, and then having two really bad choices to make about how to get around it.”
It will be crucial for signs to detour drivers off of Reynolds as far west as possible. If drivers heading east on Reynolds or Thonotosassa Road turn at Alexander, they will have a quicker, easier path to get back to US 92. If they turn south at Alexander on 92, they can take Alexander to Jim Johnson, then Park Road back to US 92. The route is all divided highways with signals. If drivers turn north at Alexander, they can take Alexander to Sam Allen, turn east on Sam Allen, then turn south on North Park to get back to 92. Those are going to be much better alternatives than coming into downtown,” McDaniel said. “That is why I think the best alternative is to get as much of that traffic as possible to turn either north or south on Alexander to take what is, effectively, a bypass route.”
The city is going to put up detour signage so truckers and other drivers notice they need to divert from Reynolds Street. These signs will be coming our way soon.
