Boaters on the Banana River, squaring off against motorists trying to cross Mathers Bridge, have stalled proposed changes from on-demand drawbridge openings to a set schedule of opening every half hour when boats are waiting.
The discord stems from a perceived lack of public notice and comment period, plus some differences of opinion on what the timed openings would, and would not, accomplish.
Brevard County Commissioner Curt Smith asked the U.S. Coast Guard for the set schedule, saying the change would ease both vehicular and boating traffic and would save the county maintenance costs by virtue of fewer openings causing less wear on expensive bridge bearings. The changes included the provision to open on signal on at least two hours’ notice by boaters.
Avid boater and Indian Harbour Beach resident George Nebeling opposes the idea and has talked to hundreds of boaters as well as county and coast guard officials. He rebutts the county’s savings numbers and contends that a set schedule would in fact not decrease overall openings while causing boaters to experience a 10 percent to 20 percent increase in maintenance and fuel costs waiting for the bridge to open.
After hearing of the issue from Nebeling, the Indian Harbour Beach City Council Aug. 9 sent a letter to the Coast Guard about what they considered a lack of notification of an issue of great importance to IHB residents. Subsequently, IHB officials have taken the additional step of going on record as opposing the proposed change to a set schedule, said City Manager Mark Ryan.
On Aug. 18 the Coast Guard confirmed the delay in the process but did not have a timetable as to if or when a final decision will be made.
“Regarding the Mathers Bridge, the Coast Guard is not implementing the bridge schedule change at this time and we are reopening and extending the comment period and that notice will be published in the Federal Register,’’ said Eddie Lawrence, Bridge Management Specialist with the Seventh Coast Guard District.
He suggested that interested members of the public view and make comments on the proposed regulation changes (eventually to be published in the Federal Register). Instructions for commenting can be found at www.regulations.gov and clicking the Public Participation and Request for Comments under Supplementary Information section.
In the initial attempt for the policy change, also using the Regulations.gov web site, the majority of commenters were comprised of motorists and South Merritt Island residents in favor of the change.
Among those commenting as supporting the change to the set schedule was South Merritt Island resident Tim Deratany, who has lived on Dragon Point south of Mathers Bridge for 11 years. He says the situation has gotten worse and was formerly just a problem on weekends.
He says that the Coast Guard rules for on-demand openings favor boaters over motorists because they were created for commercial boat traffic which no longer exists in the area. “It is all recreational boats now,’’ he said.
And there are now more commercial vehicles among the motoring public needing to get over Mathers Bridge, not the least of which are landscapers working at homes along Tropical Trail on Merritt Island.
“It used to be a problem on the weekends but now it seems constant. We (motorists) can’t pull up to the bridge and have it open but the way it is now the boaters can. We just want to know what time the bridge is to open so we can plan. We have watched and seen it open eight times in an hour. There needs to be scheduled openings,’’ he said.
Added Nebeling: “The county has said either way it will open about the same number of times so there is no savings (from less wear on the bearings). It has worked fine for many years. Why change it now?”
Mathers Bridge is a 700-foot-long low-level swing bridge located on the southern tip of Merritt Island, Florida, crossing the Banana River at the end of County Road 3.
The bridge was built in 1927 by John Mathers in order to connect Merritt Island to what is now Indian Harbour Beach, and was moved to its present location in 1952. The bridge and the control house were rehabilitated in 2007.
