A1A sidewalk ‘gap’ fix may now be years away

Indian Harbour Beach officials recently got the news that the fix for a gap in the sidewalk on the west side of State Road A1A may be years away rather than tacked on to the current resurfacing project nearing completion.

DOT officials had considered filling the gap from Eau Gallie Boulevard north to Volunteer Way sooner rather than later, but encountered issues including drainage, right of way and several anticipated utility conflicts, said FDOT consultant project manager Megan Owens.

“I don’t have a timeline for when this new project will begin, but I wanted to let you know that although we can’t address the sidewalks now, we are working on it for a future project,’’ she said in a Sept. 10  email.

DOT will design the sidewalk in 2019 and update the cost estimate for right of way acquisition.

A DOT scoping group is working on a project right now “prepared to address the right of way, drainage and utility components,” Owens said.

In a separate project, completion was scheduled this summer on a $10.3 Million FDOT resurfacing project on SR A1A from Pineda Causeway south to U.S. 192 in Indialantic.

The project includes updating pedestrian signals, six mid-block crossings (at Volunteer Way, Sunrise Avenue, Magellan Avenue, Royal Palm Boulevard, Ellwood Avenue and Grant Avenue), ADA-compliant curbs and bus access pads.

The project also includes marked bike lanes and 13 new striped crosswalk locations at intersections with pedestrian signal improvements.

Additionally, Indian Harbour Beach had expressed concerns about the design of a future SR A1A pedestrian crossings at Atlantic Boulevard where an accident had occurred previously. On July 31 FDOT held a public hearing on potential mid-block crossings including one near the Millennium Beach Park to replace the crossing at Atlantic Boulevard.

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