The City of Tampa is taking an important step to maintain its world-class tree canopy while making important infrastructure improvements to the community. The City is expanding the Neighborhoods Design-Build Project to include a pilot program that will add hundreds of trees across two communities.
The addition of these trees will help enhance the neighborhoods, increase Tampa’s urban forest, and help in the City’s mission to plant 30,000 trees by 2030. This is in addition to installing more than 19 miles of water transmission lines in four neighborhoods and repairing more than 24 miles of wastewater pipelines in two neighborhoods.
Next on the list of Tampa’s Neighborhood Design Build Project is MacFarlane Park. Crews recently started replacing more than 5 miles of water pipeline that will:
- Improve water pressure and enhance water quality.
- Improve fire protection for residential areas.
- Reduce water infrastructure breaks.
- Include improvements that incorporate sustainability and resiliency features throughout the neighborhood.
- Improvements to the neighborhood’s wastewater system were previously completed.
Over the course of the next several months, crews will also plant approximately 200 trees across Macfarlane Park and Virginia Park. The City is choosing trees that benefit the surrounding neighborhood and following the directive of “the right tree for the right place.”
“The City of Tampa is committed to investing in our neighborhoods,” said Tampa Mayor Jane Castor. “This project will not only make crucial infrastructure improvements below ground but will also make improvements to the City’s overall landscape.”
Tampa’s $92 million Neighborhood Design-Build project will make vital infrastructure improvements to Macfarlane Park, Forest Hills, Virginia Park, and East Tampa. Construction of the overall project is close to 50% completed, with work at Macfarlane Park scheduled to be finished in the Fall.
The water and wastewater infrastructure updates are funded through Tampa’s PIPES plan (Progressive Infrastructure Planning to Ensure Sustainability). The $2.9 Billion funding plan will transform the City’s 100-year-old water and wastewater infrastructure, serving approximately 725,000 people. Since 2021, more than 45 miles of water pipeline has been replaced.
