$10M project to affect about 500 homes
Improving the look of several neighborhoods is among the goals.
BOYNTON BEACH — A $10 million neighborhood improvement project set to begin next week will affect about 500 homes, help relieve flooding, improve the look of several neighborhoods, and add a wastewater force main to collect wastewater from additional neighborhoods along Federal Highway and in Ocean Ridge.
The project size is large, and will be divided into three phases, but Boynton Beach’s utilities department says it won’t result in widespread construction — or destruction.
“We’re not going to tear up the whole neighborhood at once,” said Joe Paterniti, interim utility director. “We’re going to go street by street.”
And, what might be most excit- ing to longtime residents is that the project includes some landscaping additions to Seacrest Boulevard, said Paterniti.
“It’s a county road so we’re limited on what we can do. So we’re just going to put some foliage and some benches and things like that,” he said.
The project, which will be led by Pompano Beach-based Ric-Man International, will replace undersized and old water lines in the
neighborhoods. Also, crews will be moving water lines from the back of homes to the front of the homes, and more fire hydrants will be installed to meet new standards.
Workers will create grass swales along the streets to collect stormwater that otherwise would run off onto the roadways and cause flooding.
To improve the look of the neighborhoods, crews will build new sidewalks and concrete driveway aprons. Trees that are growing within the right-of-way will be relocated or removed, depending on the wishes of the neighbors. They’ll also repave roads.
Phase 1, which is expected to be complete around late fall, includes the neighborhoods from Boynton Beach Boulevard south to Southwest Sixth Avenue between Interstate 95 and Seacrest. Phase 2 is from Southwest Sixth Avenue south to Woolbright Road.
“It’ll provide improved stormwater drainage, it will improve fire suppression capabilities, relieve flooding, increase drinking-water pressure and quality and enhance property appearance,” Paterniti said.
Phase 2 also includes building a force main, to move raw wastewater, west of the railroad tracks. Phase 3 is the construction of the force main east of the tracks. The main will connect to one on Southwest Third Street, which is connected to the wastewater treatment plant. It will move the wastewater collected in Ocean Ridge and also from neighborhoods along Federal Highway, such as the incoming Riverwalk Plaza redevelopment.