Motorists traveling through Tavernier faced delays during their morning commutes on Feb. 18, as construction crews placed orange barrels and began phase three of a water transmission replacement project in the Upper Keys.
On both sides of U.S. 1, two lanes were reduced to one as workers used heavy machinery to begin work in the median on U.S. 1 next to Tavernier Towne Center. As a result, westbound traffic slowed — the backup extended from the traffic light at the shopping plaza well beyond the Burton Drive traffic light into Key Largo.
At the U.S. 1 and Tavernier Towne Center intersection, two Monroe County sheriff’s deputies spent a portion of the morning moving traffic in both directions on the highway. Flaggers eventually took over for the deputies as traffic remained congested throughout the day.
Delays such as the one motorists experienced earlier in the week will persist into the year as contractors for the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority replace 6 miles of worn and aged water transmission from Julep Road in Tavernier to Snake Creek Bridge on Plantation Key.
Aaron Cutler, construction management consultant for FKAA, told residents during a Jan. 27 community meeting that crews will first install water main underwater at Tavernier Creek Bridge. The work will take roughly three months. Cutler said if the pipe supplier can keep up, water transmission replacement work will begin sometime in March from Julep Road to Tavernier Creek Bridge, as well as from Snake Creek Bridge past Founders Park.
According to FKAA, crews will work around the clock Monday through Friday. Pauses will occur during major holidays and events like the upcoming Gigantic Nautical Market.
While temporary rolling lane closures are expected throughout the project zone, FKAA says traffic flows will be maintained on both sides of U.S. 1. Bike lane access may be prohibited at certain project intervals; access to all businesses will be maintained.
FKAA says the project ensures clean drinking water for the coming decades. Current pipes are well past their lifespan, meaning they’re susceptible to corrosion and breaks such as the ones witnessed in Islamorada in 2023.
“Basically, the worst of it is going to get replaced first,” Cutler said.
New pipes are not only larger in diameter, but they’re also cathodically protected.
“What that means is it’s basically an electrical current that’s connected to the steel pipe, and that current holds all the negative ions onto the pipe so that the corrosion can’t take place,” Cutler said.
In April 2023, crews began replacing the aged line with a new transmission main on Tea Table Key up through Upper Matecumbe Key. On July 29, Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority activated the new transmission line along U.S. 1 from MM 79.5 to Whale Harbor Channel at MM 84 in Islamorada. The $42 million project was funded through $20 million in grants and the rest by low-interest loans.
The replacement work continued last May on Windley Key. By December, crews successfully installed all 8,250 linear feet of new pipe between the Whale Harbor Bridge and just south of Snake Creek Bridge. The $15 million project was partially funded by the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014, which is a federal credit program.
