By Ned Steele
After a break for the holidays, Siesta Key motorists using the Stickney Point Bridge will have to endure at least another month of delays and diversions, thanks to — what else? — Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
The Florida Department of Transportation, which had aimed to complete a $2.4 million renovation of the 1968 twin-roadway bridge by year’s end, announced a 54-day delay with a projected mid-February completion date.
Limited lane closures “will continue to be necessary … and run through January,” FDOT said.
Siesta Key residents and visitors have been inconvenienced for several months by the project, but had hoped the work — and its resulting traffic jams — would be finished before the start of season. Time lost due to the storms dashed those hopes, FDOT said.
There was one bright spot: FDOT said work would halt for the holidays from December 23rd through January 3rd. Crews are to resume working 10-11 hours a day, six days a week, in the following week, with traffic diversions scheduled for January 7- 9.
FDOT reports weekly on upcoming lane closure and span shutdowns in its online RoadWatch report.
A $5.3 million 2015 renovation was supposed to apply “a special galvanizing paint that will protect the underlying metal from saltwater deterioration and extend the life of the bridge for another 20 to 30 years,” an FDOT official said at the time. The current project, labeled a “repair/rehabilitation,” focuses on electrical repairs, structural repairs, recoating and repainting the span.
FDOT was unable, at press time, to project a life expectancy for the span once the repairs are completed.
“This work will extend the bridge’s service life and operational reliability, while mitigating the effects of the harsh coastal environment, severe weather and wear from the volume of vehicle and marine traffic,” a FDOT spokesperson wrote in an e-mail.
As part of the project, bridge machinery is being upgraded, concrete pitting is being repaired, the bridge approaches are being repaved, and some structural steel is being repaired.
Project engineers had worked throughout the project to ease its impact by performing much of the work underneath the bridge. Still, delays caused traffic jams and concerns by some Key residents.
Siesta Key Association president Catherine Luckner said she had talked to residents who expressed anxiety about being able to leave the island in the event of an emergency. She called on the state and county to start planning well in advance for an eventual replacement of the 57-year-old bridge.
FDOT officials said that marine traffic “should be mostly unaffected” by the work, despite the presence of work barges beneath the bridge.
In December, FDOT expanded the traffic diversions (closing one roadway completely and shifting its traffic to the other roadway) from two to three days a week to help get the project back on track. Single lane closures were in effect the other two days of the work week, with no planned shutdowns on weekends. There were also some nighttime shutdowns to test the span’s hydraulics. State officials had urged motorists to allow extra time or to use the north bridge.
At press time, details of the timing for lane shutdowns or traffic diversions for the remainder of January were not yet available.
