JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — If you have lived in Jacksonville for any period of time, you know that every time there is heavy rain, McCoy Creek Boulevard becomes impassible.
Flooding has been the bane of complaints from residents because when it happens, it happens quickly.
"Relief is coming," said Councilman Garrett Dennis. "Relief is coming!"
Last Tuesday, Dennis introduced a resolution to help speed up the permitting process. It was approved.
"The resolution is to let the regulatory agencies know that this project is a top priority," he said.
He said the project is funded.
The work to remove a section of McCoy Creek Boulevard started this summer, and it could last 18 months
"In my time in office no one has drowned, but the potential is always there so this is definitely a life safety issue," said Dennis.
It means some roads, specifically those that are now connected to McCoy's Creek Boulevard, will be permanently closed.
"I have been here fifty years," said Bobbie Anderson.
Anderson and others have been in conversations with Groundwork Jacksonville, the nonprofit working with the city on the project, to help minimize the impact on residents.
"For a long time stuff wasn't being taken care of as they should have been," said Anderson.
The $60 million, three-year project will impact about 2.8 miles of the creek and over 100 acres of land.
It will bring an increase in traffic for the neighborhood, about 20 percent, according to a FDOT study, but Dennis said the trade-off is public safety.
"In a 12 step process we are probably in step three," said Dennis.