National Public Works Week begins May 17, and St. Lucie County is proud to celebrate the dedicated professionals who help rehabilitate, improve, and maintain the County’s transportation network and stormwater infrastructure.

Whether they are repairing potholes, improving community drainage, creating systems to help improve our estuaries, or ensuring roads and bridges can safely support our growing population, public works professionals put service at the forefront for their community.

“These hard-working men and women go about their business quietly in the background, advancing quality of life for all of us, often with little or no fanfare,” said Patrick Dayan, P.E., Public Works Director. “I am proud of and grateful for all of these dedicated professionals.”

SAFER ROADS AND SIDEWALKS

Wherever we go each day, we expect to arrive safely.

Public Works is doing its part to ensure the County roadway network, sidewalks, and related infrastructure are functioning properly to help keep you safe.

Members of the Road and Bridge Division are responsible for maintaining more than 500 miles of County roadways. This includes right-of-way mowing, pothole patching, shoulder repair, and grading of dirt roads. Others operate, maintain, and repair traffic signals.

The Traffic Section fabricates and maintains thousands of signs around the County to keep them visible to motorists. This includes approximately 500 new street names, stop signs, directionals, and more that were created in late 2025 to refresh the Indian River Estates community.  

Meanwhile, the Engineering Division stewards larger-scale capital projects. This includes bridge repairs and replacements, like Range Line Road over C-23 Canal and Gordy Road over Ten Mile Creek; culvert repairs, like an emergency repair that was recently completed on Johnston Road at Canal 1; and other infrastructure improvements.

The County Pavement Management Plan, which was adopted in 2025, helps address roadway surfacing needs. The initial survey looked at the more heavily used arterial and collector roads and led to a pavement strategy for them. The plan is evolving this year, as the local roads and sidewalks were surveyed in March. This data will help County staff identify when and what types of pavement rejuvenation are appropriate.

Motorists have a smoother ride on Shinn Road between Orange Avenue and Midway Road thanks to full-depth reclamation of the road in 2025. Similar work is scheduled for Glades Cut Off Road between Selvitz Road and the Florida Turnpike overpass in 2026. Microsurfacing and maintenance of additional roads are also under way this year.

The Road and Bridge Division schedules maintenance for County unpaved roads, as well. So far this year, sections of Prima Vista and Glades Cut Off Road have been milled and resurfaced. Chip sealing is under way for several areas, as well, including roads in White City, northern Fort Pierce, and elsewhere.

SUPPORTING FIRST RESPONDERS

Moments matter. Maintaining our roadway infrastructure is also vital for first responders to arrive at their destinations quickly and safely. Public Works staff have also added preemption technology to County traffic signals to help ambulances and fire engines get your loved ones the help they need.

A dedicated group of Road and Bridge personnel have also committed to assisting with recovery efforts following severe weather, to help clear roadways of storm debris and ensure lanes are passable for emergency crews.

REDUCING THE RISKS OF FLOODING

St. Lucie County is no stranger to tropical severe weather and its effects.

Of course, that means drainage is an evergreen topic of conversation. The Water Quality Division manages County stormwater systems to prevent flooding and property damage. They are also responsible for the construction of larger-scale projects like the Melville Road Stormwater Treatment Areas and the Harmony Heights drainage improvements. Projects like these are designed to capture stormwater runoff, directing it away from neighborhood streets and homes.

These efforts are supported by the Enhanced Swale Maintenance Program and corresponding culvert inspections. Residential drainage swales are critically important to the movement of stormwater runoff away from homes and neighborhoods. This program ensures that they are routinely maintained. Inspections of driveway culverts concurrent to the swale work ensure that failing pipes are addressed in a timely manner, so that the entire system continues to function properly.

The County is also proud to offer the Culvert Assistance Program to help residents address these needs.

The Water Quality Division is helping to retrofit older neighborhoods with appropriate drainage as well. Harmony Heights in northern Fort Pierce is an area that previously lacked proper drainage infrastructure. New retention ponds were constructed in the community, while homes in the area received new residential swales and culvert pipes. Prior to this project, similar improvements were brought to Paradise Park and San Lucie Plaza to help reduce the amount of flooding there.

HEALTHIER WATERWAYS

These drainage improvements also serve another purpose. In addition to collecting stormwater runoff, they also treat the water before it makes its way into our estuaries.

Left unchecked, excess nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen can promote algae and blue green algae blooms in the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon. Green infrastructure like grass swales and stormwater treatment areas with native vegetation help reduce the volume of nutrients that end up in our waterways.

These areas not only help create a more natural and environmentally friendly system, but they have become wonderful areas for passive recreation. As time goes on, they’ve become habitats for a variety of wildlife. As a result, bird watchers, photographers, and others have also enjoyed these amenities.

Other improvements like underground baffle boxes also help to improve the health of our waterways. As runoff moves through each chamber of a box, different types of debris and sediment are captured within the structures, keeping them away from our estuaries.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Public Works projects touch all our lives. As such, it’s important to keep the community informed and involved as much as possible. Staff have met with residents, answered questions, and sought input at public meetings about the Stormwater Master Plan, Johnston Road projects, and most recently at sessions about Prima Vista Boulevard safety enhancements and Tilton Road drainage improvements.

Staff also participate in community events like the annual Earth Day Festival at Oxbow Eco-Center or school activities like the Recycle Rangers Earth Day Takeover at Manatee Academy K-8 to highlight the role we all play in helping our environment.

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

Investments in St. Lucie’s infrastructure are not without expense. Fortunately, staff have made the most of different funding sources to make the most out of each dollar spent.

The 2018 voter-approved Half-Cent Infrastructure Sales Tax has helped County staff take on a variety of projects aimed at improving roads and bridges, adding sidewalks, and making our waterways healthier. Thanks to this initiative, more than $47 million has helped make possible projects like the Keen Road over Taylor Creek bridge replacement, a new sidewalk along Walton Road, and phase one of the Melville Road stormwater treatment train, just to name a few. More than $10 million have come from non-St. Lucie County residents.

“This tax has been a game-changer for maintaining our infrastructure,” said Dayan. “Not only are these revenues helping address the backlog of deferred maintenance as a result of the great recession, but they are helping to elevate the level of service and providing the high-quality infrastructure our residents expect and enjoy here.”

The half-cent surtax has been advantageous in other ways, as well. The local dollars were leveraged to successfully award state and federal grants. The Water Quality Division was able to secure $19 million in federal money through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to accelerate plans on various stormwater and drainage projects.

The new Pavement Management Plan shifts St. Lucie County from a “worst-first” strategy to preserving and restoring roads earlier in their life cycle. This can have greater long-term benefits to the network and is ultimately more cost-effective.

OUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS

The Public Works Department includes maintenance workers, equipment operators, engineers, support staff, and employees at all managerial levels. The men and women performing this work live in the communities they serve. We enjoy the St. Lucie River and area beaches, shop at local businesses, attend worship services here, explore local parks, and raise our families in this area. We drive on the same roads and live in the same neighborhoods. Doing our part to keep St. Lucie County infrastructure at its peak performance benefits all of us, as well.

For more information, visit the St. Lucie County Public Works section.