\n\t\tWesley Chapel woman declared dead by government is tired of proving she\u2019s alive\t<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cWe are on borrowed time,\u201d resident Maegen Luka said. \u201cDecades of neglect must come to an end now. The project needs to move forward now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city is proposing a new stormwater system designed to move floodwater off streets and out of neighborhoods and into Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n
Tampa released video Monday simulating flooding during a strong summer storm, showing conditions before and after the proposed project is built.<\/p>\n
A key part of the plan is a roughly 6,500-foot box culvert, an underground channel designed to move stormwater more quickly through South Tampa.<\/p>\n
Brandon Campbell, the city\u2019s mobility director, said the project would eliminate structural flooding while significantly reducing how long roadway flooding remains after storms.<\/p>\n
The city says it considered 24 alternatives before selecting the current proposal, which officials believe would provide the most flood relief for the cost.<\/p>\n
But opponents question whether the project is worth more than $100 million. They also worry construction along South Howard Avenue could disrupt businesses for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want them to get relief, I really do, but I\u2019d like to see it with the project that we know is going to work, that we\u2019ve seen the studies on, that isn\u2019t going to cost $100 million and disrupt businesses that don\u2019t flood for five years,\u201d said Linda Misner, owner of Body by Design.<\/p>\n
Supporters argue the investment is necessary to protect homes and businesses from increasingly serious flooding.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a boondoggle. It is a way to save our homes,\u201d Luka said, adding that the project would improve safety for residents, businesses and nearby hospitals.<\/p>\n
City leaders say they plan to limit the disruption by phasing construction and keeping businesses accessible throughout the project.<\/p>\n
The Tampa City Council is scheduled to discuss the flood relief project Thursday. Council members will ultimately decide whether to approve the proposed construction price.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) \u2014 The debate over flooding in South Tampa is heating up as residents and business…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-389135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}