Residents concerned by fish deaths from Gulfstream Roundabout project
Urban construction projects are often marked by congested traffic and the loud sounds of construction equipment.
These projects don’t, however, typically involve dead fish.
But the Gulfstream Roundabout project does. The project, creating a roundabout at the intersection of Gulfstream Avenue and U.S. 41, involves reconfiguring the stormwater ponds in the greenspace southeast of the intersection.
Over the last week, workers have been draining water from those ponds, killing scores of fish, according to Bayfront-area residents.
One resident, Garry Brooks, said the fish started dying last Wednesday or Thursday and continued to do so over Thanksgiving weekend.
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Adam Rose, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation, said the fish have died because of the low water levels in the ponds and a change in the water’s oxygen level.
He said that crews have removed the fish that were present on Monday.
Linda Haller Sloan, a Bayfront-area resident, said the dying fish reminded her of red tide.
“It was very sad to me,” she said, “because it was reliving seeing all the fish die during red tide.”
Sloan said the decaying matter in the ponds smelled just like the fish that wash ashore on beaches during red tide.
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Some Bayfront residents contacted FDOT about their concerns regarding the dead fish, but they say the agency did not respond for several days. Rose said the responses were delayed because FDOT needed to coordinate with other agencies, such as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The holiday weekend also contributed to the delay.
The ponds are continuing to be drained, which Brooks predicts will lead to even more fish kills. Crews will remove future dead fish that float the surface of the pond, Rose said.
He noted that the ponds needed to be drained and altered so that the busy intersection can be made safer and traffic times can be reduced.
The $8.6 million Gulfstream Roundabout project is expected to be finished in fall 2022. Rose said the project is on track.
Anne Snabes covers city and county government for the Herald-Tribune. You can contact her at asnabes@gannett.com or (941) 228-3321 and follow her on Twitter at @a_snabes.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Gulfstream Roundabout project: Pond work leads to fish deaths
