CALLAWAY, Fla. (WMBB) — Flooding, bumpy roads and worn-out sidewalks are what residents have been used to while driving on Cherry Street in Callaway.
But not for much longer.
And for the past four years, city officials have been working on plans that will fix the road.
“It is really our main thoroughfare and it is in need of being repaved, it’s bumpy,” Callaway Mayor Pamn Henderson said.
After six months of putting bids out, commissioners awarded the bid to American Sand during Tuesday’s meeting.
The $10 million Cherry Street project will go from Star Avenue to Tyndall Parkway.
The project will improve drainage issues that cause flooding in the area and will give residents a new sidewalk to walk on.
The city has resurfaced the street many times, but flooding is still an issue.
This major project will include repaving, resurfacing, and fixing the drainage system.
“The road floods so this could take care of that because we did discover the drainage system would either need to be drastically repaired or completely replaced,” Henderson said. “It was going to cost almost as much to repair it as it would to replace it. The commission opted to bite the bullet and we are going to replace all of the drainage.”
The funding from the project will come from the Florida Department of Transportation, ARPA, state infrastructure money and grant funding.
“I have been pushing and pushing for this because it has been needed for so long so I am so happy that we finally awarded the bid,” Henderson said. “I’ll be ecstatic to see construction start.”
City officials expect to begin construction after Callaway’s Veterans Day Parade.