SEBASTIAN – Work will get underway this week on cutting out culverts along Barber Street in preparation of the road’s widening project.
Affected property owners will have that portion of their driveway replaced with rocks for the duration of the construction.
“We’re going to have some growing pains,” City Manager Al Minner told the Sebastian City Council during a project update earlier this month. There will be a preconstruction public meeting on Feb. 1 in the council chambers beginning at 5:30 p.m. Residents will get a more detailed update on the status of the $2 million road improvement project at that time.
Barber Street’s widening is being done through funding from federal stimulus funds. The Florida Department of Transportation will be conducting much of the work.
The project consists of rebuilding sections of the road, repaving others, and improving drainage along a 2 3/4-mile stretch from County Road 512 to Schumann Drive and will require the county’s utilities department to relocate a 12-inch water main.
The Florida Department of Transportation received federal stimulus funds to work on shovel-ready projects such as Barber Street.
The road construction is currently scheduled to get started in February and be complete within a year.
Approximately 8,600 vehicles travel the 35 mph roadway on a daily basis, according to numbers provided by the Florida Department of Transportation.
The project will be broken into four phases — the first three will be between CR 512 and Adams Street, the fourth will be from Adams to Schumann.
The first three phases will require detours through residential side streets as construction crews tear up Barber and rebuild the street from the base up.
The last phase will keep one lane open at all times, allowing traffic to alternate passing through the zone as crews repave that section.
