Lauderdale A1A project delayed after Irma blows out the lights

have dimmed that a State Road A1A beautification project in Fort Lauderdale will be done before tourist season begins.

Hurricane Irma damaged the new street lighting system between Oakland Park Boulevard and Flamingo Avenue, making it unlikely the project will be completed before early next year.

It will take 14 weeks to order and receive replacements for 26 light fixtures and 2 poles, according to the Florida Department of Transportation, and then a few more weeks for them to be installed and inspected, according to spokeswoman Dayana Diaz.

The lighting was scheduled to be completed some time this month. Most of the other improvements are done but some paving and striping also need to be finished. Landscaping will follow and it’s expected to last about six more months.

“The landscaping project can’t begin until this one is completely closed out,” Diaz said.

Chicago resident Jim Lentz winters in Fort Lauderdale and said he was discouraged to learn about A1A construction dragging on into a third tourism seaHopes son.

“I’m very disappointed and hope, somehow, they can speed it up so it’s not as detrimental to the Florida tourists who help support Fort Lauderdale,” he said.

Once done, the $9.3 million A1A project will feature four vehicle lanes and two bicycle lanes, a treelined median and sidewalks, and an extra lane northbound between Northeast 34th and 36th streets.

The project also includes improved drainage, mast-arm traffic signals, countdown timers at pedestrian crossings, new signs and pavement markings.

After Hurricane Sandy wiped out a section of A1A north of Sunrise Boulevard in 2012, transportation planners decided to reduce four lanes to two as part of $11.8 million worth of improvements along that mile-long stretch of road.

Those improvements withstood Irma’s winds, according to Lauderdale Beach Homeowners Association president Steve Ganon.

“There wasn’t much of any damage except for sand buildup in the median and landscaping debris,” he said. “No street signs were down or anything.”

wkroustan@sunsentine com or 954-356-4303 or Twitter @WayneRoustan