Hurricane Ian prompts delays in completion of Gulfstream Avenue roundabout

The continuing effects of Hurricane Ian have caused a delay of several weeks in the construction of the roundabout at Tamiami Trail and Gulfstream Avenue. The diverting of manpower and materials toward necessary roadway repairs in points south meant a two-week shutdown of work at the roundabout and continuing materials shortages.

During Wednesday’s monthly virtual project update, FDOT Project Engineer Pinky Pakalapati said delays in the wake of the storm mean the roundabout lanes will not open by Thanksgiving as hoped, and will instead occur sometime between the end of November and Christmas.

“Because all the resources have been diverted toward the hurricane relief, trucking has been a problem and it’s like pulling teeth to get concrete,”  Pakalapati said. “With asphalt, hopefully we'll be OK.”

As the circle comes closer to opening, some disruptive detours will be necessary, Pakalapati said, but are planned to occur mostly overnight.

When the roundabout is finally open to traffic, it will still be months before the project is completed and periodic lane closures will occur.

“We still have to build the medians,” Pakalapati said. “We were not able to build the medians because we have to manage the traffic. Once the roundabout goes into effect and we have the lanes northbound and southbound open, then we will have the median area opened up for us to work.”

That work will require narrowing approaching roadways to allow room for concrete trucks and other construction vehicles to enter and exit the area, and for the safety of workers. Lane closures won’t be long-term, but rather three or four hours at a time during afternoons and outside of rush hour.

In addition to traffic, another improvement resulting from the roundabout is drainage in a previously flood-prone location. Never was that more evident than when Hurricane Ian dropped more than a foot of rain there. The road was raised by one foot between Fruitville Road and Gulfstream Avenue, but most importantly a new drainage system has been installed.

‘There is all new drainage structures because the old pipe, I’m not sure how long ago it was put in, had a lot of debris and silt in it so that was reducing the capacity for the drainage pipes,”  Pakalapati  said. “Now it's all new. It's going to be full capacity, but our ability to get the water out is limited by the pipe because if the outfalls are halfway or  completely submerged there's nowhere for the water to go. We are putting in bigger pipes so it can take more water from the surface of the road into the system. And then once the tide goes down it will push the water out into the into the bay.”