A $1.265 million project at the Morse Boulevard bridge embankment could be on hold for another year if the water level does not begin to recede at Lake Sumter.
Bruce Brown, head of District Property Management, didn’t hold out much hope for the water level going down when he reported on the bridge embankment project Monday morning before the Project Wide Advisory Committee.
He recommended waiting 60 days to see if water levels begin to drop, but with the heavy rain being experienced it doesn’t appear the water level will be going down any time soon at the lake.
“This is a project that really needs to be executed in the dry season,” Brown said.
That would mean a major traffic inconvenience during the winter months, the height of the snowbird season.
The good news is the traffic headache would not be suffered this season. The bad news is that the price of the work could rise if the project is delayed another year.
“We’re fighting the water level, the same thing we’ve been fighting for five years,” said PWAC Chairman Don Wiley.
The sloughing problem at the bridge has been discussed and debated for years by PWAC members. In 2019, PWAC took a fresh look at the project and agreed last year to spend $130,000 on professional service toward a Geoweb stone reinforced slope.
