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Dunedin's deep into road work

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published April 23, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Joseph Garnett Jr.] South Douglas Avenue: During construction work on the avenue from Albert Street to Lexington Street, at least one lane will be open for local traffic. The work will reduce the four-lane road to two lanes and includes drainage and sidewalk improvements.

DUNEDIN - Two major road projects are under way in the city: the repair of the Dunedin Causeway and improvements to South Douglas Avenue.

Both projects are expected to wrap up in the next few months.

The Dunedin Causeway

The bridges that take nearly 1-million visitors to Honeymoon Island each year are undergoing significant repairs aimed at extending their life until 2024.

Originally, the replacement of the bridges was on the list of Penny for Pinellas projects for the 2010 to 2020 period at a cost of $127.5-million. However, it was determined it was more cost-effective to repair the bridges twice over the next decade and postpone replacement until 2024.

Repairs on the 1,300-foot-long Intracoastal bridge and 350-foot- long relief bridge started in June 2006. The entire northern sidewalk, which was in bad structural shape, will be replaced, said Tony Horrnik, division engineer with Pinellas County Public Works.

Other improvements to the bridges, built in 1963, include sealing cracks and patching all the concrete elements of the structures like the piles, the caps, the deck and the sea wall, Horrnik said.

The current $2.6-million in repairs should extend the bridges' service life until 2014. The bridges will undergo another set of repairs after that and will have to be totally replaced by about 2024, Horrnik said.

In a separate project, the windows of the drawbridge attendant's house will be replaced with bullet and hurricane-proof glass.

The project's cost is from $150,000 to $200,000.

During the construction, which should be completed in two to three months, drivers will face partial lane closures.

South Douglas Avenue

Construction started this month on the third and fourth phases of improvements to South Douglas Avenue from Albert Street to Lexington Street.

The $1.4-million project will reduce the four-lane road to two lanes, and include drainage improvements and the installation of a new sanitary sewer system. There will also be aesthetic improvements, such as brick sidewalks, decorative crosswalks and streetlights.

During construction, blue entrance signs have been erected to direct motorists through the construction to local businesses on the road.

At least one lane will be open during construction for local traffic.

"The goal is to slow traffic down, to eliminate cut-through traffic that does not frequent the businesses, to improve safety, to reduce pavement to improve drainage, to hopefully spur redevelopment along that corridor," said Douglas Hutchens, director of public works and utilities.

Atlantis Construction of Tampa Bay Inc. is the contractor.

[Last modified April 23, 2007, 06:59:48]