Volusia County plans Orange Camp Road widening, drainage improvements for flood relief

Volusia County is moving forward with a major road and drainage project along Orange Camp Road that could bring long-awaited flood relief to the DeLand area.County leaders are asking council members to select an engineering firm to design the first section of the Orange Camp Road widening project — running from Woodland Boulevard to Kirkaldry Court. The project includes adding retention ponds, expanding lanes and potentially constructing a roundabout. It comes after the county purchased and demolished several homes along the corridor to make way for the improvements, which are located just outside DeLand city limits.Annette Stengo, who lives near the vacant properties, said the demolitions felt incomplete without a clear follow-up plan.“At one point they had the hose going from Orange Camp all the way to our rear retention pond,” Stengo said. “So when I saw the houses being knocked down, it was like seemed unfinished, like there needed more to be done.”Neighbors say the area has strugg