By Anne Geggis
A $1 million county study of what might replace the 75-year-old George Bush Boulevard bridge is underway and a state review awaits as the bridge’s replacement cost keeps rising.
The bridge — one of Delray Beach’s three spans across the Intracoastal Waterway — is experiencing “increased maintenance concerns and infrastructure failures,” according to county officials.
That’s a reference to when the bridge became a poster child for the country’s troubled infrastructure in 2022 when it was stuck in the upright position for two months because of equipment issues.
It’s operating correctly now, but the future is clear.
“Right now, that bridge definitely needs to be replaced,” David Ricks, Palm Beach County engineer, told county commissioners last November.
Still, the only certainty is the replacement’s rising cost.
In 2022, replacing the bridge was projected to cost $45 million but the latest cost estimate Ricks presented shows it would be more like $75 million to design and replace the bridge. The county’s five-year capital improvement plan shows no more money than the $1 million budgeted after this fiscal year through 2028.
“We’re definitely going to be looking at the state or federal level to help us with the cost of that,” Ricks said.
A U.S. Department of Transportation report in May found that the projected five-year increase in highway construction costs could mean that the $673 billion the federal government allocated for transportation projects — roads, bridges, transit, airports and rail — will buy only 60% of what was originally intended when it passed in 2021.
When the replacement happens to the George Bush Boulevard bridge, it will be a long time coming.
Hal Stern, president of the Beach Property Owners Association, said he’s not expecting that reconstruction anytime soon.
“The design phase could last as long as three years,” Stern said. “The challenge is that it’s such a low bridge. How can they raise the bridge without impacting the areas on either side of the bridge? It’s challenging.”
The Intracoastal bridges at Ocean Avenue in Boynton Beach, Ocean Avenue in Lantana, and in Lake Worth Beach were all reconstructed with higher spans over the years, according to the Delray Beach Historical Society.
Both Atlantic Avenue’s Intracoastal bridge, which was built in 1952, and the George Bush Boulevard bridge were designated local historic sites in 2000 by the City Commission.
Increasing bridge height can be fraught with complications, as can designating a bridge as a historic one.
“In Boca Raton, the Camino Real bridge was given historic status by the city in order to avoid making the bridge higher, which would have significantly changed access to the Boca Raton Club, the Royal Palm community and businesses east of that bridge,” Tom Warnke, archive coordinator at the Delray Beach Historical Society, wrote in an email.
Meanwhile, the Linton Boulevard span over the Intracoastal Waterway needs $20 million in repairs, Palm Beach County’s Ricks said.
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