City maps out traffic plans during prolonged Osprey Avenue closure

The last time the Osprey Avenue bridge was closed for construction on Lift Station 87, Stan Allen couldn’t pull out of his driveway.

The Hudson Bayou resident says his narrow street was frequently used as an alternate route once drivers realized Osprey was no longer navigable in January and February. As the Lift Station 87 team once again prepares to close the bridge for up to a year — this time, in both directions — Allen urged the city to take precautions to protect the neighborhoods near the construction site.

“(Osprey) has been the cut-through for the last 40 years for people from Siesta Key going to St. Armands, to the beach and downtown,” Allen said, highlighting the volume of traffic that would be impacted by the project.

This is the challenge for McKim and Creed, the engineering firm overseeing the construction of the wastewater treatment facility: As a team prepares to drill beneath the Hudson Bayou, how can it minimize the impact on the surrounding area?

At a series of meetings, the Lift Station 87 team has solicited feedback from residents while detailing the traffic management plan for the closure. Over the past several weeks, residents have said rerouting traffic out of their neighborhoods is a high priority.

“There are lessons learned from some past closures at this site, most definitely the previous construction effort,” said Robert Garland, project manager for McKim and Creed. “We listened, and we’re trying our best to incorporate the changes that have been requested.”

"It’s a construction area. You will be disturbed." — Robert Garland

Specifically, residents asked to keep traffic off Orange Avenue, diverting it to Tamiami Trail instead. But that won’t be easy. As Garland noted Tuesday, the project team doesn’t have the authority to enforce its traffic plans. In advance of a long-term closure, he’s promising residents his team will keep a close eye on the situation in an attempt to mitigate any pain. Still, that can only go so far.

“I’m not going to mislead you — there will be some impacts,” Garland said. “It’s a construction area. You will be disturbed.”

With three or four months to go before construction begins, the team is working to get ahead of the issue. Thirty days before construction begins, the Lift Station 87 team will put out a series of 10 message boards directing traffic to Tamiami Trail. The goal is to keep through traffic off Osprey Avenue between Mound Street and Hillview Street, minimizing the number of drivers who will detour through a neighborhood.

However, there is a balance. The group wants to preserve access for businesses and residents on Osprey Avenue impacted by the closure. That’s why, when residents suggested placing another sign on Siesta Drive to discourage travelers from heading north on Osprey, the Lift Station 87 team exercised caution.

“I don’t think we want to put a detour sign up there, because it would take traffic away from some of the businesses,” Garland said.

Still, the input from residents didn’t go unheeded. The group is planning to place a sign suggesting the use of U.S. 41 as an alternate route at the Siesta intersection. Steve Topovski, the city’s project manager for Lift Station 87, said engineering and the Florida Department of Transportation would discuss any necessary changes to traffic signal patterns.

If traffic problems linger on residential streets, Garland said, the group could install temporary speed tables on side streets near U.S. 41 as a visual deterrent to cut-through traffic.

"We listened, and we’re trying our best to incorporate the changes that have been requested." — Robert Garland

All together, it’s part of an attempt to send a clear message to people impacted by construction: We’re listening. As the project has long been stymied by various setbacks — including the departure of the previous engineering firm — residents have become frustrated. In turn, outreach has become a major priority for McKim and Creed.

Even after the year-long closure, the current construction timeline includes more than three years before the lift station is completed at 1900 Mound St. With that in mind, the project team is focused on maintaining a clear line of communication with residents over the next five years.

“It’s not going to be perfect when we start,” Garland said. “We’ll continue to listen, continue to get input and try to adopt our plan as we move forward.”