Council gives 10th Street improvements the green light
Posted On: March 3, 2020
Straddling the boundary between New Smyrna Beach and Edgewater, a half-mile stretch of 10th Street is about to get a major upgrade.
On Tuesday, the Volusia County Council awarded a $10.4 million construction contract to realign and widen 10th Street from two lanes to four lanes between Myrtle Avenue east to U.S. 1. The council unanimously awarded the contract to P&S Paving, Inc. of Daytona Beach, one of two companies that bid for the job.
The road work is a complicated project that crosses railroad tracks and the Gabordy Canal and required coordination agreements with the Florida East Coast Railway, the New Smyrna Beach Utilities Commission and the cities of New Smyrna Beach and Edgewater. The county landed a $2.8 million grant from the Florida Department of Transportation to help pay for the project.
“This is one of the last pieces,” County Engineer Tadd Kasbeer told County Council members Tuesday in presenting the contract for their approval. “This covers all the rest of the work that will be associated with that project.”
The work will include reconstruction of the railroad crossing and replacement of the existing railroad trestle bridge over the Gabordy Canal with a dual box culvert. The interlocal agreements were critical components of the planning process, designed to make the overall project go more smoothly and efficiently. For instance, the City of New Smyrna Beach has transferred the rights-of-way to the county that are needed to pave the way for the construction. The county has agreed to do some work on Palmetto Street to lessen the impacts on Edgewater’s city street. Under an agreement with Florida East Coast Railway, FEC will build the box culvert replacing the bridge over the canal and reconstruct the railroad crossing and the county will reimburse the railway for the cost.
The New Smyrna Beach Utilities Commission will be relocating some of its utility pipelines in the project area. Under an agreement with the county, the utility work will be performed by the county’s contractor in conjunction with the road construction and the Utilities Commission will reimburse the county for the cost.
“Consolidating the construction work under one contractor will reduce the overall construction duration and minimize inconvenience to the traveling public,” county staff said when the agreement with the Utilities Commission was approved back in December.
The project is expected to take approximately 20 months to complete.
