Plans to replace wastewater pump station to make section of Bayshore Blvd safer

TAMPA, Fla. - The City of Tampa said plans to replace a wastewater pump station from the 1950s will make a section of Bayshore Boulevard safer for drivers, bikers, and pedestrians. The climate-ready improvements will be a long-term fix to the infrastructure.

The pump station along Bayshore Boulevard was originally put into service 67-years-ago. The aging equipment is at the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced.

"We have to completely rehabilitate this wastewater pumping station," said Eric Weiss, director of Tampa’s Wastewater Department. "It's really an opportunity, the way we look at it, to modernize the station and to really align with the mayor's goals of sustainability and resiliency."

Every house, school, and business across four South Tampa neighborhoods rely on this pump station. It keeps the wastewater from bathrooms, showers, and kitchens moving through the pipes out to the wastewater treatment plant.

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"It does about 2.5-million-gallons per day on an average day," Weiss said. "If this failed, it could overflow out into the bay at Bayshore Boulevard."

Besides being old, the location of the pump station creates an obstruction for pedestrians and drivers that can be dangerous. Neighbor Dee Dee Poole said she avoids the intersection as much as she can.

"If you're trying to come up Stovall Street and make a left on the Bayshore heading north it's very hard to see oncoming traffic," she explained.

The planned renovations and upgrades will reposition the pump station, removing the visual hazard and relocating electrical gear, so it is less vulnerable to heavy storms.

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Officials said the goal is to keep pumping, so there is no wastewater overflow.

"Currently, there's only two pumps in there. You know, it's kind of an old standard now. We're putting four pumps in there and the other ones are just back up to the backup," said Weiss.

The $12.4 million project is funded by PIPES, a utility rate increase plan the City put into place in 2019 to pay for large-scale sewer and water infrastructure improvements.

The plans still need to get final approval from City Council. Construction is expected to start next June with the project complete by late 2024.