Jacksonville beach drainage fix still years away

Jacksonville, FL — The Florida Department of Transportation project to help with drainage in Duval County's beach communities could break ground any day now and should take about two and a half years to complete.

Austin Dukes, of Jacksonville Beach, has been dealing with flooding for years.

"If it rains for 10 minutes, it’ll be up to the curb," Dukes said. "It’ll rain for an hour and it’ll flood out."

The FDOT drainage project aims to replace bridges and culverts and widen channels in the area.

Monday, we learned The de Moya Group Inc. has been hired for the project and could start work any day now.

The project covers land from Beach Boulevard in Jacksonville Beach to Seagate Avenue in Neptune Beach, where FDOT believes the worst flooding happens.

But there's one problem: FDOT is still working to secure funding for areas north and south of there, which includes where Dukes lives at 12th Avenue South.

"From 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., it was ankle deep, calf deep probably. It gets pretty frustrating" Dukes said.

FDOT said the project costs nearly $26 million.