After decades of flooding, Midway’s $33.5 million drainage overhaul breaks ground next month

Construction crews will begin tearing into the streets of historic Midway next month, launching the first phase of a $33.5 million drainage project that residents of the predominantly Black community east of Sanford have waited decades to see.

The Seminole County Board of County Commissioners received a detailed update Tuesday on the Midway Drainage Improvement Project, which will break ground March 25 at 10 a.m. at the Midway Community Center. Three construction packages have been awarded and are moving to the field, with combined contracts totaling $10.6 million.

“This is a big moment in time. Long, long, long time,” Emory Green Jr., executive director of the Midway Coalition, told commissioners during public comment. Green noted that a 1997 drainage study sat largely unacted upon until 2021 — a gap of nearly a quarter century.

The project addresses chronic flooding in Midway, a roughly five-mile community established in the 1920s by Black workers who migrated to work in the area’s celery fields. The neighborhood, also known as Canaan City, lacks a central sewer system, meaning floodwaters routinely back up into residents’ septic systems. Hurricanes have repeatedly swamped yards and roads in the low-lying area.

Jorge Jimenez, the county’s chief maintenance engineer in the Roads & Stormwater Division of the Public Works Department, walked commissioners through the three contracts heading to construction. Work will roll out in phases across several streets: Jack Court, Hughey Street, Sipes Avenue, Dixon Avenue, and Water Street are first, starting in March, followed by Jitway Avenue near the elementary school in April. The largest contract tackles Beardall Avenue and Celery Avenue and includes a new stormwater pond, with work expected to begin this summer and wrap up by the end of 2027.

Jimenez said bids came in “at or just below construction estimates.” Five more packages are in design or permitting, with additional contracts expected to go out to bid later this year. One future package has secured a $1.3 million grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

How the project is funded

The project is funded through a combination of $10 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, a $7.19 million Resilient Florida grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, county infrastructure sales tax dollars, and other sources. The FDEP grant — formally titled “Seminole County Historic Midway Community Flood Resilience and Adaptation” and designated grant agreement 24SRP64 — was executed on Jan. 17, 2024, under the state’s Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience Plan. The grant runs through June 29, 2026. The total funding breakdown is detailed in the county commission’s supporting documentation. An updated basin study completed in 2021 identified the flooding hotspots and helped secure the initial ARPA allocation.

Chair Andria Herr, whose District 5 includes Midway, praised the multi-department coordination that brought the project to this point, noting that previous attempts at drainage improvements in Midway had stalled over right-of-way acquisition.

“This project has failed in the past because of right-of-way acquisition not happening,” Herr said. She credited the communications team’s community outreach and the Midway Coalition’s advocacy for building the trust needed to obtain easements from property owners.

“I’ll be more excited when I see the water flowing off the roads and into the drains, but this is a really good first step,” Herr said.

Green, who has led the Midway Coalition’s advocacy for years, reminded commissioners that the push for drainage improvements began formally on Sept. 11, 2018, when residents came to the commission chamber to make their case.

“The residents of our community are sincerely grateful for your commitment for excellence and also your dedication to this process to get it right,” Green said. He pointed to transformative change already visible in the neighborhood: “We never would have saw one million dollar homes selling on Celery Avenue.”

‘Willful negligence’: A community’s decades-long fight

In an interview, Green elaborated on what drove the community to action. “Community flooding had reached a breaking point and septic systems were failing,” he said. “It had been 21 years since the last basin study was prioritized and residents had had enough.”

Green said the coalition came to commissioners with documentation showing “willful negligence on behalf of Seminole County government” — pointing to the 1997 drainage study that sat largely unacted upon. The coalition organized a town hall on Oct. 4, 2018, where they highlighted a joint planning agreement signed in 2015 by then-County Commission Chairman Brenda Carey and City of Sanford Commissioner and Vice Mayor Velma H. Williams.

That agreement recommended an impact study before new commercial and residential projects broke ground in the area. “To date, this impact study has not taken place,” Green said.

At a 2018 commission meeting, Carey explained why the joint planning agreement was needed: to prevent the unincorporated Midway community from becoming an isolated enclave surrounded by City of Sanford annexations. The JPA specifically identified Midway as a candidate for “special area studies” to address the community’s development patterns and needs.

Meanwhile, the area’s growth has only accelerated the need for infrastructure. Green said more than 10 subdivisions have been built in Midway since 2018, adding more than 5,000 homes.

“Responsible growth is great and signals a vibrant, diverse community,” Green said. “Without responsible growth that accounts for infrastructure and systems to support citizens, you’re asking for a nightmare.”

With construction starting next month, Green acknowledged the community is bracing for disruption but said residents are committed to the process they fought for. “Change is uncomfortable, but it is necessary,” he said. “We were tired of being comfortable with inefficient and dated systems not keeping us on track for the future.”

Coalition demands a comprehensive master plan

Beyond drainage, the coalition wants the county to adopt a comprehensive master plan for Midway and Canaan City that includes a septic-to-sewer conversion plan, impact assessments on roads and stormwater, updates to antiquated community plats, development guidelines for sustainable growth, and improved emergency services including police and fire response times. Green said the coalition sent those requests to county leaders on Nov. 4, 2021.

“This project signals long overdue change,” Green said. “It is a first step toward a brighter and more equitable future for all Midway citizens.”

A trail for the neighborhood

The county is also advancing the Midway Destination Trail, a separate project first identified in the 2022 Countywide Trails Master Plan. The trail would create a one-mile, 10-foot-wide continuous concrete path along the banks of an 80-acre lake behind Millennium Middle School, with a fishing pier at Roseland Park, an exercise station, a culvert crossing, shade trees, and a paved plaza at the Brisson Avenue trailhead.

The county’s Parks and Recreation director told commissioners the trail construction documents are at 100 percent, permitting is complete, and an early guaranteed maximum price has been established with a construction manager at risk already under contract. The county has also been assembling the land needed: it obtained the southern portion of the lake from FDOT with School District approval, completed a rezone, and purchased outparcels adjacent to Roseland Park to consolidate the property boundary. A final GMP and budget amendment request are expected in late spring 2026, followed by the trail’s own groundbreaking.

The trail would also provide a safer, more direct walking route for students at Millennium Middle School, connecting two sides of the neighborhood that currently require a long detour through residential streets.

The county said residents will be kept informed as work progresses. “Direct notifications will be provided to affected residents regarding temporary closures or access adjustments,” a county spokesperson said.