- April 25, 2024
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Manager said paving should be complete in weeks
The Granada Boulevard project can’t be completed soon enough for many Ormond Beach residents, including city commissioners.
Commissioners James Stowers, at the July 29 meeting, suggested the city send a letter to the FDOT.
He said he continues to get calls and emails from residents. City officials have been contacted by citizens about the project, even though it is a FDOT project and the city has no control.
“It’s become a part of life in Ormond Beach,” he said. “It’s been months now. They can do better.”
He also complained about the traffic lights.
“It’s a traffic jam at every light,” he said. “I’d like to see them evaluate the roadway and make it more palatable for residents.”
Mayor Ed Kelley said he expects that the traffic lights will be synchronized when the project is completed.
Reached after the meeting, Glen Raney, FDOT project manager, said that FDOT does not synchronize traffic lights, and that Volusia County would be the responsible agency.
Raney also shed light on reasons for the long delay in completing the paving.
The paving could not be done until the new mast arms were installed at Tomoka Boulevard, Williams Boulevard and Clyde Morris Boulevard, because sensors had to be placed under the pavement. Unfortunately, they ran into unexpected delays.
“There were issues,” Raney said.
The power lines were close to the existing light poles, so electricity had to be cut off so the people could work safely. Raney said they didn’t realize the wires were so close.
“OSHA rules state how close workers can be to live wires,” Raney said. Also, a bucket truck must stay away from wires because the electricity can jump across the space.
He said they had to coordinate with FPL to shut the power off, and that often took a couple of weeks because a lot of calculations had to be done.
“It’s not like shutting off a switch,” he said.
There were also weather delays.
The good news is that the paving is complete on the east side of Nova Road, and the stretch from Nova Road to Tymber Creek should start after the workers finish the ADA ramps, which is expected by Aug. 7.
The ramps could not be started before the old poles were removed, and the ramps must be complete before the final layer of paving, called the friction surface, is laid down.
Raney said it should only take a couple of weeks to finish the paving to Tymber Creek Road after they get started.
He pointed out that the contractor, Halifax Paving, buffered the edge of the paved lanes to make driving smoother, even though it was not required in the contract.
There is still “clean up” work to do after the paving, which should be complete by October, well within the deadline of Dec. 8 to complete the project, Raney said.
