Trucks ready to rumble for Longboat beach project

With permits in place, a contractor chosen and Mote Marine Laboratory staff ready to relocate sea turtle nests, the town will start a long-awaited beach renourishment Wednesday.

But the shoreline expansion project, which the town received Florida Department of Environmental Protection permits for eight months ago, could also bring traffic headaches.

Roughly 65 dump trucks will traverse the roadways and beaches once or twice daily while the town places about 200,000 cubic yards of new sand mid-Key, said Town Manager Dave Bullock. 

Click here for pictures of the truck haul.

The vehicles will deliver sand from a mine in Immokalee using a route that snakes through St. Armands and continues up the south end of the Key. But they may use a northern route if traffic is too severe.

Contractor Olsen Associates Inc. aims to finish the $10 million, 4-mile project, which is broken down into four segments, by October.

“I think everyone wants it to have a minimum of disruptions, but there will be some inconveniences,” Bullock said. “That’s what it takes to build the beach back.”

To mitigate traffic issues, the town has included a clause in the contractor’s agreement prohibiting trucks from lining up on Gulf of Mexico Drive if there are backups at work sites.

“Sure, you have to be concerned with any potential impediments to traffic flow, particularly now when we’re still in the high traffic season,” said Commissioner Jack Daly, who represents the town on the Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization.

But, with traffic likely to wane soon as part-time residents head back north, Daly is more concerned about the effects of a Florida Department of Transportation project that will temporarily reduce the westbound side of the Coon Key Bridge, near St. Armands, to one lane. The state is replacing two segments of the bridge as part of a project that will continue through July.

Meanwhile, town officials are prepared to tackle issues related to the project as they occur.

“We’ll have our police completely aware and involved with what’s going on,” Bullock said.

Police Chief Pete Cumming said he would have one or more officers visibly stationed at the south end to ensure traffic flows at its normal rate and trucks don’t linger on Gulf of Mexico Drive.

“Our strategy is essentially to see how it unfolds, and if there are issues, (address them),” said Cumming, who will have additional officers on call during the renourishment. “We’re expecting a little bit of a learning curve.”

Mote will provide sea turtle biologists to patrol the beach every morning to relocate nests before work begins, and ecologists will monitor the activity of protected shorebirds and rope off nesting areas, according to a town news release. 

Except for holidays, the dump trucks will be used from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The mid-Key truck haul project is the first of three pending renourishment projects in development on Longboat. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved one of two permits for the town to dredge the inlets on either side of the island for more than 550,000 cubic yards of sand.

“These have gone out to bid, and the bids are due later this week,” Bullock said.

The contractor chosen for those projects will begin dredging about 200,000 cubic yards of sand from New Pass by July, then move to Longboat Pass to renourish the north end of the island with the same amount of sand by September. 

“Dredging passes or out in the gulf is always weather dependent,” Bullock said.