ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — St. Petersburg Public Works has begun a $610,000 project to create an access point to a stormwater pipe beneath Central Avenue near Beach Drive in downtown after depressions formed above it, according to Director of Engineering and Capital Improvements Brejesh Prayman.
“We just don’t want the pipe to collapse,” he said. “We don’t want this to become a continuous problem for the city and for the residents.”
The road is also part of the upper racetrack for the St. Pete Grand Prix.
The pipe beneath Central Avenue drains stormwater from downtown into the Bay. Prayman said the reason there’s no access point is because the road was built in the 1920s.
“Once we realized we didn’t have access, we wanted to put an access point,” he said. “So we could get in there and dewater the pipe, clean the pipe, and now we can inspect the pipe to see if there’s any dislocated joints, broken pipe sections.”
The project began last month, and a new manhole access point could be seen behind some construction fencing in the area. Prayman said he anticipates the stormwater pipe will be relined, with some sections possibly replaced if needed.
“This was proactive work because it is an outfall for the city,” Prayman said. “We don’t want anything to happen to that pipe, that outfall, because if anything happens to that outfall, we’re going to see flooding further upstream of that system.”
Once the work is complete, the city plans to use special asphalt to repave three roads that make up the upper racetrack for the St. Pete Grand Prix. Prayman said he expects the project to wrap up next month, giving the asphalt 120 days to cure before the next race begins.
“So the racetrack itself is a major economic stimulus, not only for the city but for the community as a whole,” Prayman said. “It brings a lot of revenue back to the businesses and also revenue back to the city that goes back into projects.”
According to Visit St. Pete-Clearwater, the Grand Prix has historically generated about $60 million in total economic impact.