CAPE CORAL, Fla. —
A newly installed sidewalk along Embers Parkway in Cape Coral, Florida, was torn up and replaced after the contractor determined it did not meet required standards.
Angela Dela Cruz, a resident of Cape Coral, shared her dissatisfaction with the initial work.
“It was a mess. I didn’t like the contractor that was working in here,” Dela Cruz said.
She added, “It was dirt all over the place. It looked sloppy. They did a really sloppy job.”
Another resident, Jeff Huddleston, expressed confusion about the situation.
“Nobody will tell us anything about what’s going on,” Huddleston said.
Huddleston described what he witnessed during the removal process.
“They put this sidewalk in and then last week they turned around, had three guys watching pick up these concrete that we see right now. They just kept lifting them up, ripping them all out when they just put them in not too long ago,” he said.
The sidewalk is part of the Hector Cafferata turn lane expansion project along Embers Parkway, between Chiquita Boulevard and Burnt Store Road. The contractor overseeing the project stated that the portion installed by the subcontractor “did not meet the standards” and was removed.
Barry Connor, another Cape Coral resident, said taxpayers should not be responsible for the mistake.
“If the contractor are the ones selling it, they have to replace that cost because it’s not the city’s fault,” Connor said.
The replacement work will not cost the city any additional money. The overall project, designed to improve safety in the area, is budgeted at $908,000.
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