A state project currently in the design phase aims to address a roughly 4-mile stretch of road on Lower Matecumbe Key prone to flooding and washouts from major storms.
Officials with the Florida Department of Transportation say they’re in the early design stages of a road improvement project from south of Toll Gate Boulevard, MM 73.7, to Lignumvitae Channel, MM 77.5 in Islamorada. The road and shoulders targeted within the project would be elevated by an average of 1.5 feet. A portion of the highway by Sea Oats Beach would be raised by 2 feet, said Favio Laverde, consultant project engineer.
Road in the area by Caloosa Cove Marina, Florida Sea Base and Iroquois Drive would be raised anywhere from 1 to 1.5 feet. Project costs are around $10 million to raise roads and shoulders, improve drainage and tie into a shoreline protection system along Sea Oats Beach. Milling and paving is also expected, as well as the installation of audible and vibratory edgelines to prevent motorists from veering. Guardrails and signage will undergo improvements in certain locations.
Laverde told Lower Matecumbe property owners during an Oct. 6 virtual meeting that initial engineering was submitted on Sept. 23. Final plans aren’t expected to be submitted until September 2021, however. Construction is expected to start around the spring and summer of 2022.
“This will be in design for another year,” he said.
Laverde acknowledged that part of the reason the project won’t start sooner is that a project is underway to repair embankment washout and existing shoulder pavements. Crews are working to restore and repair the shoreline on the Fills. They’ll also be working to reestablish the wall block on Sea Oats Beach damaged by Hurricane Irma, but no groundbreaking has occurred.
The road elevating project will affect some wetlands on Lower Matecumbe. Laverde said the South Florida Water Management District and Army Corps of Engineers will determine the mitigation efforts required to address that.
Any additional runoff created as a result of the project will be caught to avoid adding more water to neighborhoods and private lands already inundated with water. Drainage inlets, swales, trenches and underground piping will be installed.
“We don’t plan to worsen any conditions that you all are currently experiencing,” Laverde said. “I’m not going to lie and pretend we’re going to solve issues along city roads. If water is draining there today, it will be draining there tomorrow.”
Laverde said project information will be presented to the public sometime this fall.
