City readies for 2nd new bridge
As the Florida Department of Transportation nears completion of the Flagler Memorial Bridge replacement, it is preparing to start on the Southern Boulevard Bridge and its little sister stretch next to the southern White House, Mar-a-Lago.
Barbara Kelleher, FDOT’s public information director for the Southern project, said the Secret Service did contact the agency to ask about the construction schedule but no special arrangements have been made yet to accommodate President-elect Donald Trump.
They’ll cross that bridge when they build it.
Which will be soon, possibly as soon as April 1, she said, and that’s no April Fool’s joke.
After four years of construction, two lanes of the north bridge opened Dec. 18, with the other two — and the project completion — scheduled for late spring. That $106 million project is com- Tony Doris ing together, not just on the span and drawbridge sections but on North Flagler Drive, which is being elevated slightly to meet the bridge, which no longer will jump over Flagler on its way to Dixie Highway.
Completion of that project cues up the work at Southern, where West Palm Beach utilities already are laying the groundwork by moving water lines. Fiber-optic cables also are being moved to make way.
The $92.1 million project’s drawbridge will be a little higher and its opening a little wider than the old one, making passage easier for Palm Beach’s yachts. The smaller relief bridge also will be replaced. Like the old Flagler Memorial Bridge, the Southern bridges also date to 1950.
The Southern bridge will have one 12-foot-wide travel lane in each direction, 6-footwide sidewalks, and 10-footwide shoulders that include bike lanes.
A temporary lift bridge will be put in place during construction of the new drawbridge. At least part of the causeway beach will be used as a staging area for the project. Completion is scheduled 1, 2017 Sept. 10, 2012 No current construction Late 2016 April Late 2020 for late 2020.
As for any effects on Trump’s sleep needs, Kelleher said the contractor will be required to abide by local noise ordinances and construction permits that delineate when they can and can’t work.