By Jane Smith
Delray Beach Public Works staff unveiled the second phase of the beach master plan on May 28.
The work will start July 8 and is scheduled to be finished mostly by Nov. 19, said Aaron Cutler of Mathews Consulting who was hired to monitor the project.
When finished, the beach promenade will have amber lighting on the beach side of State Road A1A that is friendly to sea turtles and pedestrians. The $3.3 million project also includes enhanced crosswalks and dune fencing.
“Finally,” said Bob Victorin, president of the Beach Property Owners' Association. His group has been waiting about 10 years for the improvements.
The amber LED lights will be fitted on 124 poles about 10 feet high to light the walkway. Forty, 4-foot-tall bollards also will have amber lights. Most of them will be placed behind the main pavilion at Atlantic Avenue and A1A.
Between George Bush Boulevard on the north and Casuarina Road on the south, the lights will be on a timer to go on at dusk and shut off at 10 p.m. during sea turtle nesting season.
Separately, Florida Power & Light engineers are working on having amber streetlights installed on their 25-foot poles later this year. Currently, FPL’s lights on the west side of A1A are white LEDs that don’t turn on during sea turtle nesting season.
In mid-April, MBR Construction won the bid to construct the second phase of the beach master plan for the city.
Commissioners approved the Fort Lauderdale firm’s bid, even though at $3.3 million it was about $800,000 more than that of West Construction of Lantana.
Also on the April 16 consent agenda, commissioners approved hiring Mathews of West Palm Beach for $256,000.
Earlier in April, West was sent a letter detailing problems with two city projects they had worked on, including the eight lifeguard stands.
Cutler, vice president of Mathews, said his company will have employees on site daily and post photos each day on Twitter (@beachmasterplan) and Facebook (#beachmasterplanphase2).
He also said a hotline has been set up for residents to ask questions or report problems. The phone number is 833-335-7292.
City staff asked MBR to delay starting the work until July 8 to not interfere with the city’s Fourth of July celebration.
MBR, which signed a contract on May 23, will spend the downtime ordering the light poles, bollards, posts and the steel cable for the dune fencing.
The project will include eight A1A crosswalks with reflective paint. The crosswalks at the intersections at Atlantic and Casuarina will be painted and stamped to look like bricks.
Comments