Commissioner Sorensen Attends, Takes over Meeting and Determines Course of Action
A PUBLIC INFORMATION WORKSHOP on the replacement of the South Ocean Drive Bridge project was held Wednesday, Nov 6 at 1:30PM at St. Sebastian’s Church Hall. The primary purpose was to review the traffic study that Harbour Inlet requested. The meeting began with a recap of the need to replace the bridge and the decisions made to this point. The bridge has been on the Harbour Inlet (HI) ‘radar’ since money was first appropriated for design in July 2017. We have continually asked that the neighborhood be heavily involved from the beginning. The results of the three issues we have consistently focused upon are: 1) CLEARANCE-The Bridge will be raised resulting in about two feet of additional boat clearance. Mostly due to use of thinner materials. 2) BARRIERS -Safety barriers on each side will be ‘open’ so that water can remain visible unlike other small bridges that have been redone with solid barriers. It will be similar to what exists now. While the first two issues were non-controversial the third, CONSTRUCTION method and the resulting neighborhood impact is controversial.
During the resulting spirited conversation attendees questioned the validity of traffic studies conducted during the summer, complained of traffic and speed on Barbara Drive and discussed many details. At this point Commissioner Sorensen stepped in and took control of the meeting. He outlined the issues around the two construction options and created a plan to move forward. There are two options. We can either CLOSE the bridge completely during construction (about 12 months). Or PARTIALLY CLOSE and keep one lane open during the period. Closing completely would route the 4000+ cars per day that use the bridge through the HI neighborhood. This would result in an additional 250-300 cars per hour from about 8:00AM to 5:00PM every weekday, an option not favored by Harbour Inlet. A partial closing would increase the cost and extend the construction time (5-6 months). An earlier question of opening the north end of Marietta Dr. was rejected by engineering as not feasible. Use of prefab construction (other than pilings) was eliminated because of difficulty operating on the site. Barges could not deliver material as required since there is insufficient clearance at the small Stranahan River Bridge under 17th St. Use of a temporary bridge was excluded because of a lack of right-of-way.
Commissioner Sorensen determined that the vast majority of attendees preferred a partial closure and asked the design engineers to create a plan to do so. He suggested another follow up meeting in January when the results should be available. Approval will require the support of the City Commission to allocate more funds for the project
Thanks to everyone who gave up their time and attended.