Repairs to the 78 year old Bear Cut Bridge — stopgap fixes until it can eventually be replaced — start Thursday night.
Key Biscayne put out an alert to residents that, for the time being, the repairs by Miami-Dade County will be at night and should have a minimal effect on traffic.
The $2.5 million project will address corrosion found during an inspection of the June 2020 bridge. The replacement of the span is estimated to cost $90 million and is expected to be about a decade away. A first step — a planning, development and environmental study — will start after the repairs.
The last repairs to the bridge – built in 1944 and one of three that connect Key Biscayne to the mainland – occurred in 2016. Joint, bulkhead and beam restoration, among other repairs, are expected to take about 11 months to complete.
Crews were already doing prep-work on Wednesday night. The work was initially slated to start in November.
Overnight lane closures will start at 9:30 p.m. Village Manager Steve Williamson said he doesn’t believe delays will be too bad.
“We’ve asked them to do stuff at night and don’t do it during high traffic times,” he said. “It’s something we have to stay on top of because contractors like to sneak into other times.”
When repair work must be done during the day, Williamson said the Village will work with the county and the contractor to make sure it is done during non-peak hours.
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JOHN PACENTI is the executive editor of the Key Biscayne Independent. John has worked for The Associated Press, the Palm Beach Post, Daily Business Review, and WPTV-TV.