Water main break slows down Keys traffic. Pipe replacement project to start next month
A water main broke in the Florida Keys early Wednesday morning, and repairs affected traffic throughout the day along U.S. 1 in the upper part of the island chain.
The leak in the 30-inch pipe happened at mile marker 84.5 in Windley Key, said Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority spokeswoman Krystal Waldner.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office issued an alert around 7 a.m. telling drivers to “expect delays” and saying traffic in the area was being diverted to the Old Highway, a stretch of road in the Upper Keys that runs parallel to U.S. 1.
Waldner said no FKAA customers lost water to their homes and businesses as a result of the line break.
Repairs were completed and crews began clearing the roadway around 5:30 p.m., Waldner said.
However, while that happened, traffic continued to be diverted to the Old Highway, sheriff’s office spokesman Adam Linhardt said.
Massive replacement project in the works
The issue with the pipe Wednesday happened a month before the FKAA is set to begin a $42 million project to replace aging pipes in the area.
Aimee Adler Cooke, another FKAA spokesperson, said four miles of the 40-year-old, 30-inch pipes will be replaced by new, 36-inch pipes that are “cathodically” protected, meaning they are designed to protect against corrosion.
“In the Keys, we have aggressive soils and subterranean tidal flows that submerge and expose the pipeline to corrosive conditions, and this will ensure the pipe’s not compromised,” the utility said in a statement on its website.
Also part of the project, pipe that spans across Tea Table Relief and the Whale Harbor Bridge will be installed underwater “to protect them from high winds and storm surge,” Cooke said.
The range of the replacement plan is from mile marker 79.5 on U.S. 1 to mile marker 84.
It is scheduled to be complete in February 2025, according to the FKAA.
Motorists traveling through the area should expect delays. The FKAA says one northbound and one southbound lane will remain open along the highway for the duration of the project.
The bayside portion of the Heritage Trail will be closed, but a crosswalk to the ocean side of the trail will be open until March 2024.
The FKAA says bike lanes on the highway will remain accessible.
As for the total cost of the Islamorada transmission main replacement project, $35 million is funded by grants, and $7 million through low-interest loans, according to the FKAA.
“The grants were secured through collaboration with the Village of Islamorada,” Cooke said.
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 9:48 AM.
