Cape Coral’s utility extension project set to resume next summer

The City of Cape Coral is trying to make sure a big construction project doesn’t turn into a nightmare for the people who live in the area.

In the past, the cape utility extension project (UEP) led to ripped-up roads and a muddy mess for residents near the project.

Many who lived through the construction in the previous UEP projects know the headaches.

As the city moves forward with planning for the North 1 project, they want to prevent those same headaches from happening.

“It was just a major inconvenience. We would have to go out all the way down towards diplomat instead of having to be able to go straight out to pine island road which is one of the main thoroughfares,” said Robert Willsey, who lives in Cape Coral.

Willsey said part of his road was dug up for almost two years as the city worked to complete construction for the North 2 UEP project and switch homes from well water to drinking water.

Willsey said he’s not looking forward to construction for the North 1 phase near his house. “I have an RO (Reverse Osmosis) system that is not going to be able to be used anymore. It’s going to be actually literally just be thrown away because we’re not allowed to hook up city water.” He continued, “hopefully they will be digging right in front of my house at all times and that it’ll move quickly.”

The City of Cape Coral hopes for the same. After countless complaints from neighbors about roads being dug up for too long, they’re hoping to split the North 1 project into two phases.

North 1a and North 1b. North 1a would consist of areas west of Del Prado and North 1b would consist of areas east of Del Prado.

“Lessons learned in 6,7, North 2 is one of the biggest complaints is ‘I had pavement and they’re waiting for that first lift of pavement to go down that’s when you have the dust and the mud.’ So we’ve been looking for different ways to keep that as tight as possible to control the contractors as far as ripping up too much pavement,” said Paul Clingan, Public Works Director for Cape Coral.

Willsey said he appreciates the city’s efforts but he fears he’ll see the same headaches. “I have a feeling I’m still going to have dump trucks full of dirt in front of my house every morning and I’m going to have to wait for them to back out of my way to get out of my own driveway. I don’t think there’s any avoiding it no matter how much they split it up or what they do.”

The city says splitting these projects up may result in different assessment rates for each area.

The goal is to start construction in the summer of 2022 and finish in 2024.