A section of Orange Avenue running through Ivanhoe Village that was temporarily closed for construction in mid-September has partially reopened to vehicular traffic, with single travel lanes open in both directions.
On September 11, the City of Orlando’s Public Works Department kicked off Phase 1 of construction to replace sanitary sewer lines on North Orange Avenue, which required the closure of the road to any and all car traffic.
According to the City of Orlando, the closure was necessary to replace the undersized sewage pipeline along the corridor over the next 13 months, in five phases, with the first phase addressing a section between Ivanhoe Boulevard and Alden Road.
During that time, questions were raised by adjacent businesses about the duration of the construction, and the smell of sewage coming from the construction site. The first weekend of construction resulted in a Lake Alert being issued for the adjacent Lake Ivanhoe, when a pipe being worked on at the site cracked, and released approximately 50 gallons of waste into the street and nearby lakefront.
Shortly after that Lake Alert was eventually lifted on September 21, the following video was taken by an adjacent business, showing foul-smelling fluids being discharged into one of the large ditches on the worksite.
According to the City of Orlando’s Public Works staff, the fluid being discharged in the video was groundwater, and not sewage, despite the smell. Public Works investigated the site and came to the conclusion that the water leak was the result of “tampering with the site after work hours.” The City then issued another Lake Alert for Lake Ivanhoe, just in case.
Local businesses adjacent to the construction, including Lucky Lure, The Greek Corner, Gnarly Barley, and The Pinery, have all shared a dramatic decline in business during the construction. So now that the stinky hose water has been tucked away, the Lake Alert lifted, and the road partially open to traffic while construction continues to one side, Bungalower Media would like to encourage you to take a side trip to the area in the coming weeks to help support some of the businesses that were adversely affected by the work.
