Palm Beach asks Coast Guard to modify Southern Boulevard bridge operating schedule

With work nearly complete on the new Southern Boulevard Bridge, the town has renewed its request to the U.S. Coast Guard to modify its operating schedule.

In an Aug. 30 letter to the Coast Guard's District 7 office in Miami, the town asked that an operating schedule similar to the one now in place at the Flagler Memorial Bridge be put in place.

Mayor Danielle Moore said the town has been working toward traffic management solutions with regional transportation partners and stakeholders to alleviate traffic congestion near that bridge and two others that connect West Palm Beach to Palm Beach.

"The recent drawbridge opening adjustments on the Flagler Memorial Bridge during peak traffic hours is an example of small successes in that endeavor," she told the Daily News Tuesday.

The town's request follows one made in February asking the Coast Guard to permanently modify the operating schedules for the Flagler Memorial Bridge, the Southern Boulevard Bridge and the Royal Park Bridge.

All three bridges connect West Palm Beach to Palm Beach over the Intracoastal Waterway. The Flagler Memorial Bridge is the most northern of the three.

The town's request, which the town made as part of an effort to alleviate heavy rush hour traffic during the winter season, was denied. However, the Coast Guard agreed to a compromise modification for the Flagler Memorial Bridge.

Related: As traffic woes build, county and FDOT at odds over Royal Park Bridge lane closures

As part of a test period that began Aug. 1, the Coast Guard temporarily reduced the number of openings at the Flagler Memorial Bridge from two per hour to one per hour on weekdays between 7:30 and 9 a.m. and 4 and 6 p.m.

During those times, the bridge will open on the quarter hour. For the remainder of the day and on weekends and federal holidays, the bridge will assume its regular operating schedule of opening on the quarter hour and three-quarter hour.

The temporary schedule will continue through Jan. 22, though the Coast Guard is evaluating the modifications for future changes and recently sought public input about them.

The town said it was pleased with the concession on the Flagler Memorial Bridge, and asked the Coast Guard to extend the temporary operating schedule to May if it chose to end it.

"In the event that the U.S. Coast Guard ultimately decides to discontinue the favorable modification, we would request that the modification remain in place at least through May 2024 due to public congestion safety issues," the town wrote.

The town's previous requests to the Coast Guard to permanently modify the operating schedules for the Royal Park and Southern Boulevard bridges were denied based on ''current construction projects'' on those bridges.

Work on the Southern Boulevard Bridges Replacement Project began in April 2017 and is expected to wrap up in December, according to the FDOT.

Work includes replacing a drawbridge that connects Palm Beach to West Palm Beach and the tide relief bridge next to Mar-a-Lago; new decorative lighting; pedestrian features; traffic signals; signage; and drainage.

The project's contractor continues to work on some miscellaneous and punch list items, the FDOT said.

The Royal Park Bridge is undergoing a $2.3 million painting project that is expected to be complete in spring 2024.

Periodic lane closures on the bridge have snarled traffic in the area, and a lengthy closure of the bridge gates on Sept. 26 made the congestion worse.

The town said it will make another request to the Coast Guard to modify the operating schedule for the Royal Park Bridge when construction is nearing completion.

Palm Beach County and communities surrounding the bridge have joined the town in petitioning the Coast Guard for changes to the operating schedules for all three bridges.

In an April letter, Palm Beach County Mayor Gregg Weiss asked the Coast Guard to consider "slight modifications" to those schedules to restrict openings during the morning and afternoon rush hour periods.

"It is our belief that changing the schedule would greatly improve peak-hour traffic flow on three main arterial roadways," Weiss wrote.

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: Palm Beach asks for tweaks to Southern Boulevard Bridge schedule