By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

A Florida Department of Transportation official said Tuesday the agency has no funding available and no obligation to connect the sidewalks the agency constructed along two Cedar Key bridges to the road on both sides of the bridges.

County Commissioner Lilly Rooks looked astonished when DOT District Planning and Environmental Management Administrator Stephen L. Browning told her the agency wouldn’t build a ramp from the sidewalks to the road.

“They’re still working out there, it seems something could be done,” said Rooks. She discussed the sidewalks at Tuesday’s board meeting.

DOT replaced two bridges on Airport Road in Cedar Key and built sidewalks behind the guardrails but provided the public with no access to the road from the sidewalks.

Browning argued there is no sidewalk along the road leading to the bridges and no reason to connect the sidewalk to the road, but he said if a sidewalk is ever constructed by the county the bridge has sidewalks ready for use.

Rooks and Commission Chairman John Meeks were concerned the county could be liable if someone climbed over the guardrails and fell from one of the sidewalks after ownership of the bridges is turned over to the county.

Funding Dead End Sidewalks

“There’s a sidewalk area, but there’s no way to get to it without going over the guard rail,” said Meeks.

Meeks said he is aware the DOT sidewalk program is funded from a different pool of money than bridge construction but he wondered if DOT could build some type of access to the road from the sidewalks on both bridges.

“It would be a simple access point to get to the sidewalk,” Meeks said

He added later, “I think before all is said a done we need to find a compromise.”

Meeks said he is concerned someone could get run over crossing the bridge. Rooks said she saw a man in a wheelchair trying to cross one of the bridges recently. He couldn’t cross until two large fishing boats were pulled across the bridge.

Browning said he would take the county’s concerns back to his superiors at DOT and try to figure out a solution.

          C Street Bridge Project Moving Forward

In a separate matter related to Cedar Key, commissioners voted to give DOT authority to build a temporary bridge alongside the C Street Bridge when the bridge is replaced late next year. The C Street Bridge connects the downtown area of Cedar Key to the Dock Street businesses along the waterfront.

DOT originally proposed closing down C Street to replace the bridge, but business owners on the dock and county commissioners strongly objected on grounds it could damage the Dock Street business district, one of the foundations of the Cedar Key economy. The original DOT plan would have created a dead end until bridge construction was finished.

The foundation of the C Street Bridge isn’t in good shape. The foundation has apparently been destabilized over the years from storms and the passage of time. The bridge connects the Gulf of Mexico to the City Marina. Tides push water into and out of the marina every day. Commercial and recreational fishing boats use the canal beneath the bridge to reach the Gulf.

The state recognizes the importance of the bridge to the Florida recreational economy.

 

Levy Board of County Commission Regular Meeting November 20, 2018

Posted November 20, 2018