Holmes Beach’s city center roadway improvement project has been under construction for six months.
And it might take another month or two to complete the bulk of the job.
City engineer Sage Kamiya told The Islander March 9 that Sarasota-based C-Squared CGC Inc. was projected to reopen Gulf Drive by the end of March and to reach substantial completion by the end of April.
“We’re getting close,” he said.
The $3,001,460.85 project involves improving drainage infrastructure and adding roadway markings, bicycle lanes, sidewalks, crosswalks, street lighting and landscaping from the intersection at Gulf and Marina drives to the 5600 block of Marina.
That section of Marina Drive was closed when construction began last September while C-Squared rebuilt the roadway.
So far, C-Squared has removed the old asphalt, installed or improved four stormwater pipeline crossings under Marina Drive, repaved and added new curbing and sidewalks.
The contractor reopened Marina in December and closed Gulf Drive, from Marina to the intersection with Holmes Boulevard, where underground stormwater drainage pipelines are being replaced. There also were some intermittent detours on Marina Drive.
Kamiya said C-Squared has completed some pipes on the south side of Gulf and will install a pipeline on the north side within a week.
He said installing the pipeline on the north side was set back due to a broken elevation grate, which required a stretch of pipeline to be rebuilt.
Next the contractor will begin to landscape and install lighting conduits, ropes and bollards, according to Kamiya.
Installation of new light poles, which the contractor has ordered but has yet to receive, will be one of the final steps on the project.
Kamiya said C-Squared is contractually obligated to reach substantial completion of the project by the end of April.
In the meantime, at least one local business owner’s frustrations boiled over in emails.
Rick Hurst, former city commissioner and co-owner of the Freckled Fin Irish Pub, communicated his frustration in a string of emails between Kamiya and city officials.
The exchange began March 7 with Hurst emailing Kamiya to ask why the closed block of Gulf Drive couldn’t be reopened until the contractor was ready to complete work, which he wrote “has been closed for quite some time with no activity.”
Kamiya responded on March 8, assuring Hurst that work was being done on Gulf Drive.
Hurst replied on March 8, calling for accountability and questioning the city’s efforts to mitigate the project’s impact. He continued to ask, “Why?”
“I understand the work had to be done but there should be as much effort as possible to keep roads open and clear as much as possible and that was not done,” Hurst wrote. “It has been very disappointing as well as devastating to businesses.”
He wrote in another March 8 email that the city should have funded incentives to keep work on the project moving along.
“Just because it is on time does not mean this was done correctly or morally,” Hurst wrote. “It means the timeline that was given was too long and with no concern for those that we impacted.”
Commissioner Terry Schaefer emailed Hurst on March 8 in defense of Kamiya and the city’s efforts.
“Your insinuations are misguided and for a former commissioner, disturbing,” Schaefer said. “We agree the project has been difficult on all, in particular to the businesses and residents fronting the construction, however, every detail has had the attention of the professionals in our city to accelerate completion.”
Hurst replied several times, stressing his unanswered question: “Why the closed block of Gulf Drive couldn’t be reopened until the contractor was ready to complete work?”
Mayor Judy Titsworth wrote in a March 9 email to Hurst that the city would have had to close part of Marina Drive if it wanted to temporarily reopen Gulf Drive.
“In order to keep Marina open in both directions, equipment and continued loads of stone and pipe needed to be stored,” Titsworth wrote. “This project is surrounded by properties which did not offer any staging for the contractor. … It was more efficient in moving traffic on and off the city if we kept Marina open in both directions.”
“Although I am certain this response will not make you any happier, I am over defending your position that the city is not looking out for our many businesses,” she added.