Drainage issues addressed by GIBA Board at quarterly meeting 

The Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority voted to address hurricane drainage issues on Gasparilla Road, near Kappy’s, at their August 14 meeting. 

After hurricanes Ian, Helene and Milton, the standing water lasted for weeks in a right-of-way stretch of road at the Boca Grande Hotel and Kappy’s Market shopping center. A study by the engineering firm Giffels Webster detailed that the strip of roadway floods regularly after 11.8 inches of rainfall.

The issue is that the roadway drains into the lake to the west of Gasparilla Road but there is nowhere for the lake to drain. The lake, according to Milne, is nine acres. It does not drain into Gasparilla Sound.

“It’s not just the lake, but the ‘green’ area,” said George Milne, the engineering chair of the Bridge Authority, as he discussed the issue to the board. “This translates into 1.6 million gallons of water.”

During last year’s storms, Lee County installed two temporary culvert pipes that can be opened in an emergency. They drain east to Gasparilla Sound and can be hand opened during a flood event. GIBA has also accellerated its drain cleaning regime.

The idea of raising the road is not feasible. The road is already raised, and its crown is above the height of Lee County’s section of the road. “Raising the road, you are going to force the water elsewhere,” said Kathy Banson, executive director. 

Board member Ron Drake cited the need for a fix. 

“You have got safety issues,” said Drake. During a storm, the Boca Grande Fire Department takes its equipment off island for safekeeping in case of a flood. The standing water means that Chief C. W. Blosser is not able to bring equipment back quickly.

“It’s salt water,” said Blosser. “From there it’s kind of a bowl there, it gets kind of trapped.”

The standing water has occurred during the last storms on the island. “You are waiting for evaporation,” said Blosser. “You are waiting for a long time for it to go down.” 

Above, a schematic that shows drainage issues at the north end of Gasparilla Island.