IN THE SPOTLIGHT: A fix for flooded Gasparilla Road

The Lee rescue crew

The Lee County Department of Transportation has worked tirelessly to alleviate Boca Grande’s flooded roadways after Hurricane Helene passed off the coast. 

County crews were out in full force the entire weekend after the storm and continued to work on drainage issues all week.

From Friday, Sept. 27, through Sunday night, Sept. 29, DOT assessed and removed water from the roadways with immediate steps. Lee DOT reported earlier this week that:

• Boca Grande experienced significant levels of flooding on the roadways, and water levels were exacerbated by Saturday’s additional rainfall.

• DOT teams completed first push of accessible roads to ensure they were passable.

• DOT worked to expedite drying out of Gasparilla Road by installing pumps to move water out of retention areas.

• DOT teams cleared all roadside drainage outfalls on the road to help restore functionality of the remainder of the drainage design.

• DOT mobilized debris/sand removal operations to Boca Grande, and these ongoing efforts will continue until all roadside debris is or has been collected.

The standing water due to Helene’s presence in the area illustrated that Gasparilla Road has a unique drainage design. It requires water in some areas to percolate where outfalls are not feasible, and these areas were flooded with storm surge and rainfall. 

The county was able to open Gasparilla Road to traffic Monday, but there were still two spots where standing water was present.

Lee County Natural Resources and DOT, along with partners at the South Florida Water Management District, discussed additional methods to improve drainage of Gasparilla Road. 

This involves installing new emergency storm drains that will help drain the roadway in future storm events. 

The successful proactive effort of installing emergency storm drains will help relieve excessive water issues and assist in relief from future storm surge. Work should be completed by this weekend. 

“Lee County could not be more proud of the hard work our crews put in to help the Boca Grande community after Hurricane Helene passed,” Lee DOT Director Rob Price said. “The diligence of the crews and the support of county staff – as well as that of our County Commissioners – was pivotal in our ability to help the island immediately and for future rain or surge events.”