Jacksonville outlines San Marco detour, timeline as LaSalle drainage work advances

City and contractor officials on Thursday outlined a phased detour and multiweek closure of San Marco Boulevard at LaSalle Street tied to Phase 2 of the LaSalle drainage project, saying the work will create short-term disruptions but will improve stormwater drainage once a new pump station is operating.

Joe Cantor, project manager for Haskell, told a crowd of residents and business owners that the project’s Phase 1 pump station will “decouple the drainage system from the river.” Cantor said the nearly completed 60,000-gallons-per-minute pump station will mechanically force stormwater out to the river and that Phase 2 involves installing a larger gravity drainage network to carry water to the pump station.

The work requires a localized closure at the San Marco Boulevard–LaSalle Street intersection to install the main trunk line, a 48-inch by 76-inch elliptical concrete pipe, Cantor said. Haskell and city staff said the plan calls first for a lane adjustment to maintain two-way traffic while crews advance from the pump station toward San Marco. Cantor said crews expect to reach near the San Marco edge line after three to four weeks of initial work, after which a full closure of the intersection would be required. Officials estimated the full, localized closure of San Marco Boulevard could last six to eight weeks once it begins in May; preliminary lane adjustments and prep work will begin earlier in April and depend on completion of the pump station’s primary power connection.

Business owners pressed for clearer, street-level details on access,…