Longboat hopes to close undergrounding project near end of June

After more than 10 years of planning and construction, there is an end in sight for Longboat Key’s underground utilities project. 

Assistant Town Manager Isaac Brownman had nothing but good news to share with town commissioners on May 19 at the commission’s regular workshop. 

“This is one of my favorite and best updates on the undergrounding project in almost five years,” Brownman said. “It’s official: All service conversions are complete.” 

The next milestone is for Florida Power & Light to remove the remaining poles and overhead wires on the island, which is expected to conclude at the end of June or early July. 

During construction, the project divided the island into four phases, each requiring a series of service conversions and switching orders before converting the area to the underground system. 

Brownman said Phase 3 was complete on May 2. Then, on May 15, Florida Power & Light authorized Wilco Electrical's final switch order, which marked a major milestone for the project.

“The entire island is now functioning on the entire underground system for the first time since July 2019,” Brownman said. “That’s some great news there.”

Besides the construction progress, Brownman shared good news about the project’s budget. 

The town originally budgeted $49 million for the project and, even with additional elements not previously accounted for, the town’s finance department is tracking a $6 million surplus. 

Amid construction, the town decided to add backlit street signs and new highway lighting along Gulf of Mexico Drive to enhance the project. 

The expected cost of 40 backlit street signs was $483,245, and the highway lights added another $1,333,760. 

Photo by Carter Weinhofer

Brownman said design is in progress for some of the additional GMD poles, which will also need to go through permitting with the Florida Department of Transportation. 

Contractors started installing the new backlit street signs, and Brownman estimated they will wrap up in about six weeks. 

“That should wrap up the infrastructure components of this project,” Brownman said. “Great news there.”

FPL and its contractors told Brownman they are aiming for final pole removal around June 30, but Brownman said it’s likely to be in early July. 

Either way, town staff are planning to host a celebration at the end of June to celebrate the milestone with town commissioners before they go on summer recess. Town Manager Howard Tipton said the town hopes to hold that ceremony on the morning of June 23. 

The town initiated the undergrounding project in November 2015 with a referendum for residents to vote on whether the town could borrow $25.5 million for the Gulf of Mexico Drive part of the project. 

Then, in March 2016, another referendum passed to allow the town to issue bonds up to $23.85 million for the neighborhood portion of the project. 

Active construction began in July 2019, and an early estimate projected the bulk of construction to be done in three-and-a-half years. 

During the summer of 2023, FPL notified the town it had discovered an oversight in that some of the town’s existing underground transformers would not be compatible with the new system. The need to order additional transformers, exacerbated by supply chain issues, which caused drawn-out delays until the present time.

Then, Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused a temporary delay as FPL and its contractors responded to other areas in the state in its emergency response effort. 

Now, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the project appears to be free of more delays as it heads toward the final stage of pole removal.