Citing traffic concerns, Palm Beach requests delay in FDOT plan to repaint Royal Park Bridge

The town has asked the Florida Department of Transportation to delay a bridge-painting project that is scheduled to begin in September.

Expressing concerns about traffic impacts, Mayor Danielle Moore wrote a letter to the DOT last month requesting that the agency postpone its planned painting of the Royal Park Bridge to the spring.

The agency owns the bridge, which is one of three that connects Palm Beach to West Palm Beach over the Intracoastal Waterway.

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Originally planned to begin in May, the $2.3 million project was pushed to September because of difficulties in acquiring materials, DOT Project Manager Khosrow “KG” Gandjei told the July 12 Town Council meeting.

Work is expected to take up to 300 days to complete, which would be July 2023. But the DOT said it would try to complete the painting by Jan. 1, weather-permitting.

Traffic concerns from FDOT's plan

Town officials object to that time frame, which coincides with the busy winter season in Palm Beach.

During the work period, one of the bridge’s two westbound lanes will be closed so the contractor can use it to store equipment, according to the DOT.

That would create traffic headaches for residents and visitors entering and exiting the town, Town Manager Kirk Bloiun told the council at the July 12 meeting.

"Traffic is always a great concern in this community," Blouin said. "Closing down one lane would lead to disruption in our traffic patterns."

The council echoed those concerns.

Council member Ted Cooney said that while the Royal Park Bridge was in dire need of a paint job, the project should have been scheduled in a way that minimized traffic.

"We all know that traffic through the Okeechobee corridor is abysmal at best, and most of that is out of our control," he said. "The Royal Park Bridge is our highest-use bridge. It's a major conduit. It's an area during season and at rush hour that I try to avoid to the best of my ability."

Palm Beach wants painting project pushed to May

Town staff reached out to the DOT earlier this summer asking it to delay the painting project until May 2023, but the agency was unable to accommodate that request because it already awarded the construction contract, Blouin said.

Staff brought the issue to the Town Council, which authorized Moore to write a letter to the DOT on behalf of the town.

"This is mind boggling," council member Lew Crampton said of the planned construction schedule. "We could be ridden out of town on a rail if we don't do the most we can against this."

Moore sent a letter to Florida Department of Transportation District Four Secretary Gerry O’Reilly on July 26 asking him to grant a delay.

"The town’s population increases significantly from November to April, which greatly impacts the amount of traffic across the Royal Park Bridge," the letter read. "Since this project requires one westbound lane of traffic to be closed, having a significant portion of the project occur during high season will cause gridlock entering and exiting the Town of Palm Beach.

"Therefore, I am respectfully requesting that the project be delayed until May 2023."

O'Reilly responded to the letter several days later, Blouin said, requesting a meeting with the town to discuss its concerns. That meeting is expected to take place this week.

The Royal Park Bridge painting project consists of replacing the steel coating on the bridge and clearing and painting the concrete portions of the span, according to the DOT. The project's contractor is Seminole Equipment.

The bridge opened to traffic in 2004 after a $53.5 million reconstruction.

Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Delay Royal Park Bridge repainting project, Palm Beach asks FDOT