Hialeah streets director outlines $65 million, multi-year road, drainage and sidewalk push and new maintenance plans

Streets Director Jose Sanchez summarized a multi-year program of road, drainage and sidewalk work and said the department is now shifting to operations and maintenance to protect those investments.

Sanchez told the Hialeah City Council that the city spent about $11.5 million on capital improvements in fiscal 2024 and about $28.5 million in fiscal 2025, and that projects planned or designed now would push total investment across fiscal 2024–26 to roughly $65,000,000. "We invested, over 28 and a half million dollars," he said. "All combined, we're looking to improve in the near future almost 5 linear miles of roadway, over 14,000 linear feet of French drain, 99 LED street lights, and, over 7 miles on new sidewalks."

Why it matters: Sanchez said the work targets recurring flooding, safety issues and ADA access. He and Assistant Director Yamil (Yamil) Alcazar emphasized that the investments only pay off if the city maintains them: "None of these improvements mean anything if we don't maintain them moving forward," Alcazar said, noting the department recently adopted an…