Florida Department of Transportation officials last week got an earful from a loud crowd of South Beach residents opposed to a two-year construction plan to build a second sidewalk along A1A – this one on the ocean side of the road – from the 17th Street bridge to the St. Lucie County line.
The $11 million “upgrade” planned by FDOT is slated to start in the spring of 2027 and take until the summer of 2029. It also involves resurfacing the entire roadway, shrinking the north- and southbound lanes for motorists from the present 12 feet to 11 feet each, and converting the shoulders to marked bike lanes that will be 6 feet wide.
Many of the residents attending the sometimes-stormy public information meeting said they hoped to get FDOT to back off the plans for a second sidewalk, noting that residents of the northern part of the island several years ago got FDOT to abandon plans for a second sidewalk along the east side of A1A from the Indian River Shores town line to the Wabasso bridge.
Leading off the question period last Thursday at the Riverhouse was County Commissioner Laura Moss, who represents the beachside area and praised the “robust turnout.” She said many of her constituents had questioned the need for a second sidewalk.
Most of the other residents who spoke were quite a bit harsher. Some called the project a “waste of money,” while others termed it “ill-conceived” and “incredibly foolish.”
Several urged FDOT to use its road improvement budget to fix the existing sidewalk on the west side of the road, which is in disrepair and full of cracks.
The harshest words, however, were reserved for the part of the construction plan that proposes shrinking the car lanes from 12 to 11 feet to make room for smaller-than-usual 6-foot bike lanes.
The Project Manager, Kyle Cheerangie, said FDOT hoped that a narrower car lane of only 11 feet will have “the psychological effect of encouraging drivers to slow down” along the road, which has a posted speed limit of 45 miles per hour.
Residents at the meeting scoffed at that notion, calling it “incredibly naïve or disingenuous, or both,” noting that many motorists go faster on that part of A1A anyway and the speed limit is rarely enforced.
Many of the protesting attendees appeared to be bicycle riders who loudly applauded when a representative of the Bike Walk Indian River County organization urged FDOT to “give up the sidewalk to get a proper bike lane.”
Additional construction details include improving drainage to prevent occasional flooding in the area and adding pedestrian crosswalks with countdown signals.
The project will be carried out in phases, with construction of the additional sidewalk slated to be done first. To keep disruptions to residents at a minimum, there will be no nighttime construction to keep noise down, FDOT says.
At the end of the meeting, Cheerangie said that nothing about the FDOT plans is a “done deal,” and no contractor has yet been chosen for the construction project.
He said he would take all comments received back to FDOT senior management before plans are finalized. All interested parties and those who registered for the meeting online or in person will be advised of any updates or changes.
