This bridge was already being built. But Keys residents objected, so state pulls project
The Florida Department of Transportation sent a terse, but strongly worded letter to the Village of Islamorada informing local officials that a proposed nearly $5 million foot bridge project is being scrapped after work had already begun.
The project, which was discussed at several public meetings since 2017, received unanimous approval from the elected village council with little to no resistance from the public more than two years ago. But, opposition swelled during last year’s election season after several candidates for Islamorada Village Council ran on a platform of derailing it.
Since the election, several new council members, especially Mayor Buddy Pinder and Councilman Henry Rosenthal, have insisted FDOT cancel the project. Last month, council members sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis asking him to order FDOT to cease any further construction on the bridge.
The agency went further, scrubbing it all together, letting local lawmakers know in a Feb. 5 letter that the decision comes at significant taxpayer costs.
“FDOT worked closely with the Village of Islamorada in the development of this project which the Village consistently supported the pedestrian bridge,” FDOT District Six Secretary James Wolfe wrote. “This change in position is unfortunately timed, causing a loss of public funds.”
In between the time when the old council approved the bridge in February 2018 and last year’s run-up to the election, the original $2 million project’s price tag increased to almost $4.7 million, and a 2016 FDOT study came to light that concluded the bridge wasn’t warranted in that location.
Those against the project demanded to know why the feasibility study had not been made public before the original vote, and they wanted to know why FDOT supported the bridge when its own study recommended against it.
“The only study conducted clearly indicates this was not warranted,” Nicholas Mulick, a Tavernier attorney hired by several residents opposing the project, said at last month’s meeting.
The bridge was pushed by the five-member council beginning in 2017 as a means to reduce traffic congestion at mile marker 87 on U.S. 1 where the village’s popular Founders Park is located. The bayfront park hosts several highly attended events throughout the year, which cause long traffic backups from people who park their cars on the other side of U.S. 1 and cross the highway.
The project was expected to be completely funded by FDOT, with the exception of $3,500 a year the village was expected to pay to maintain the bridge’s elevator. The village was also expected to pay about $100 a month in electric utility costs, according to a village fact sheet.
The work that was already underway included the relocation of underground water and electric utility lines, according to the village.
This is a developing story, which will be updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 7:46 PM.
