Neighborhoods

Road closures to be necessary for South Osprey Avenue sewer line project underway in city of Sarasota

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Initiative expected to take five months

This graphic shows the limits of the first phase of the sewer line project. Image courtesy City of Sarasota

As of Tuesday, June 3, a major sewer line project was expected to be underway in the city of Sarasota, and it will necessitate road closures, city staff has announced.

The sewer force main along South Osprey Avenue will be replaced over a period estimated to take five months, a city news release says.

The goal of the project is “to enhance the resilience of the City of Sarasota’s sanitary sewer infrastructure,” the release adds, as sections of the 8-inch force main “are nearing the end of their useful lifespan.”

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) explains, “Force mains are pipelines that convey wastewater under pressure from the discharge side of a pump or pneumatic ejector to a discharge point. Pumps or compressors located in a lift station provide the energy for wastewater conveyance in force mains.”

To accommodate the city project’s first phase, the following road closures and traffic modifications will be in place through July 8, the news release points out:

  • South Osprey Avenue will be closed to traffic between Floyd Street and Waldemere Street and from Clematis Street to Wisteria Street.
  • South Osprey Avenue will be restricted to one-way traffic from Lincoln Drive to Floyd Street.
  • Left turns toward South Osprey Avenue will be prohibited at the intersections of Alta Vista Street, Irving Street, Loma Linda Street and Prospect Street.

The construction cost is $2,053,986, a city webpage says. The contractor is Cacique Utilities LLC, which has a Lake Worth mailing address, the Florida Division of Corporations website shows. The limited liability company’s registered agent is David G. Cacique Pizano of Greenacres, the website notes. Leaders of the company filed the Articles of Organization with the division in late January 2022, a document says.

This is a photo of 120-inch HDPE pipe installation underway in Mexico in 2016; © Tomas Castelazo (www.tomascastelazo.com), via Wikimedia Commons; cc by SA 4.0

The project will include the following work, a city webpage points out:

  • Extension of an existing 8-inch PVC force main from Lift Station 2, with approximately 960 linear feet of 10-inch HDPE force main along Bay View Drive from the intersection of Pleasant Place and South Osprey Avenue to the intersection of South Osprey Avenue and Alta Vista Street. WL Plastics, which is located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States, explains on its website that HDPE pipe is durable, high-performance pipe used in wastewater initiatives.
  • Installation of 6,200 linear feet of 14-inch HDPE force main from the intersection of South Osprey Avenue and Webber Street to the South Osprey intersection with Alta Vista Street, via horizontal directional drilling).
  • Replacement of approximately 2,700 linear feet of 8-inch PVC force main with 10-inch PVC force main (via open cut) from the intersection of Siesta Drive and Old Oak Drive intersection, along Spring Creek Drive to the South Osprey Avenue intersection.
This is a photo of an electronic sign warning South Osprey drivers about the project. Photo courtesy City of Sarasota via Facebook

“The project’s construction schedule was coordinated to coincide with Sarasota County Schools’ summer vacation, to lessen traffic impacts on South Osprey Avenue,” the release adds. The work is estimated to be completed in the fall.

Additional information about this project, as well as a map showing each phase of the project, may be found at www.Sarasotafl.gov/OspreyAveForceMain.