Deltona’s leaders intend to safeguard one of the city’s key east-west thoroughfares against future flooding.

To show they have learned from recent history — meaning hurricanes Ian and Nicole in 2022 — officials propose to raise the segment of Elkcam Boulevard that straddles two lakes. Deltona has received a $400,000 grant from the Florida Department of Transportation to design a way to raise the portion of Elkcam Boulevard vulnerable to flooding.

“It [the roadway] needs to be 2 feet above flood elevation,” Interim City Manager Glenn Whitcomb told The Beacon.

The grant will be used to pay for the engineering, design and permitting for raising the part of Elkcam between Van Orman Drive and Howland Boulevard, which is about 1.26 miles long.

Within that length of Elkcam Boulevard are two bodies of water, one on the north side of the road and the other on the south side of the road, both named Lake DuPont. The heavy rainfall over more than 24 hours made both lakes one, and the road between Adelia Boulevard and Montecito Avenue became impassable. That portion of Elkcam was closed, and barricades were on the road for several days.

“This closure severely impacted emergency services, the ability of residents to traverse east and west; delivery of commodities to businesses; and created frustration for the traveling public. The road closure resulted in expenses of staffing, equipment and monitoring of the roadway closure, thus taking critical resources away from recovery activities,” a planning paper noted.

The grant from the FDOT may be used to help secure funding from the Florida Division of Emergency Management for the actual construction. That project will involve piling up more earth to raise the level of Elkcam to make a causeway, rather than building a bridge over the low-lying site. Whitcomb estimated the total roadway elevation will cost approximately $7 million. Deltona already has sufficient right of way to complete the project, according to an official document.

The design of the roadway elevation is to be completed by Jan. 31, 2026, the grant agreement states. 

Although city officials do not yet have construction funds on hand, they expect the future Elkcam Boulevard will be better than the existing one.

“The proposed design improvements will include the design of a raised roadway that can allow first responders to have access to the residents during emergency situations. The design improvements will also include guardrails, curb and gutter, curb inlets, and a combined proposed storm sewer/exfiltration system,” the planning paper reads. “The design proper stormwater conveyance, water quality treatment volume, and provide a compensating storage area within city-owned property to offset any floodplain encroachments.”

The timetable for possible construction has not been set.