JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The new LaSalle pump station was expected to alleviate flooding problems in San Marco, but neighbors on Landon Avenue tell Action News Jax flooding on their street has never been worse.
Video taken by a neighbor on Landon Avenue shows significant street flooding in recent weeks, and even a car trying to escape the waters by driving into someone’s yard.
“If this was happening in front of the mayor’s house, every two weeks she can’t come and go from her house and it’s flooded three feet deep, it wouldn’t be happening,” said Katie McNeal, who has lived on Landon Avenue for 14 years.
Despite promises the new nearby LaSalle pump station would alleviate flooding issues in her area, McNeal said the past few weeks have brought the worst flooding she’s ever seen.
Neighbors on the street have witnessed cars breaking down in the flood waters and have even had their irrigation systems damaged by cars driving onto their lawns to avoid the waters.
McNeal claims she’s gotten little help from the city after requesting for the drainage system on her street to be cleaned out and asking for assistance closing down her street when it floods.
“And my neighbors have done everything we can to get help and just nothing is being done,” said McNeal.
In a statement, a city spokesperson pushed back on the claim flooding has gotten worse since work on the LaSalle Pump Station’s Phase II of construction started.
“Existing conditions are consistent with historical observations and modeling results for the area. That said, residents and businesses are already benefiting from decreased recovery times due to operation of the LaSalle Street Pump Station,” said the city spokesperson. “The drainage system will continue to be restricted until all the inadequate pipes are fully removed and replaced during Phase 2 of the project, which is ongoing.”
We hopped in the car with Councilmember Joe Carlucci (R-District 5), who represents the San Marco area, to survey progress on the massive drainage project.
Carlucci explained, while the pump station may be online, crews are still going street by street upgrading the existing underground pipes to new massive ones, which will allow the pump station to operate at full capacity.
“You can suck water through a coffee straw, but you’re only gonna be able to do so much. And once you replace it with a bigger straw, the bigger pipes, it won’t even back up. It’ll be dry the whole time,” said Carlucci.
The upgrades on Belmonte Avenue, which is just around the corner from McNeal’s house, are expected to be done by Friday.
“This is kind of the final stages of everything,” said Carlucci.
Carlucci said some neighbors may have to grit their teeth for the time being, but relief is coming, with the project expected to be completely finished in early spring.
But given McNeal’s street isn’t technically part of the project, she just has to hope the nearby drainage improvements take some of the strain off of her system.
“All I can say is the city has a duty to maintain passable roads, and this is unacceptable,” said McNeal.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
