PGA Blvd. road-raising begins

Project will lift 2 miles of Gardens highway, add bridge, water culvert and wildlife crossing.

PALM BEACH GARDENS — A project to increase the elevation of 2 miles of PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens is under way.

Lane closures started last week as the Florida Department of Transportation began Mirasol, to the Beeline Highway. The roughly $9.5 million undertaking should be completed next fall.

The project includes raising the current roadway to create a two-lane undivided one. A new single-span bridge and box culvert will improve the movement of water on either side of the road, according to FDOT spokeswoman Meredith Cruz. A wildlife crossing will create a safe passage for animals, she said.

Both sides of the road will be cleared to install erosion control devices. Raising the road should prevent flooding from storms. There will be wider shoulders in case a disabled vehicle needs to pull over.

“These upgrades to the roadway are intended to increase the accessibility of the roadway year round and prevent back-ups,” Cruz wrote

in an email.

The Palm Beach Gardens City Council supported the project in June 2014, but they urged at least one lane be kept open during construction to ease safety concerns. At that time, City Engineer Todd Engle gave a presentation showing the South Florida Water Management District’s plans to slowly raise water levels in the Loxahatchee Slough were already affecting the stretch of road.

Caloosa resident Carl Creedon at the time said he worried the work would slow access by emergency vehicles.

On Monday, he said he had met with DOT officials, the contractor and engineers about three weeks ago.

“Right now, everybody seems to be comfortable with their position,” he said. “... All we can try and do is minimize the impact of what happens with the traffic that usual- ly flows on that road.”

Traffic includes Pratt & Whitney engineers on their way to work. Creedon said even with the lane closures, flaggers can wave other traffic to the side if emergency vehicles need to pass.

Work in October will be concentrated where the new bridge will be built, about a half-mile west of the canal. The contractor will work on the north side of the road, closing the westbound lane.

FDOT’s website, www. dot.state.fl.us, indicates one lane may be closed in each direction from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. weekdays through November 2016. Flaggers will be there to direct traffic as needed.

No closures are expected on the Beeline Highway from the Pratt & Whitney entrance to the border between Palm Beach and Martin counties.

Ranger Construction Industries is the main contractor for the project.