Local

Liberty Street inspections lead to more closures

Inspections that have followed the collapse of Liberty Street near Coastline Drive are leading to more changes.

Since the collapse in February, Coastline between Liberty and Market has been shut down to vehicle and pedestrian traffic, and the FDOT says that will stay shut. Additionally, they're ordering Coastline between Market and Newnan be reduced to one westbound lane and the speed limit be dropped to 15 miles per hour.

We’re told this is in direct response to the inspections and reviews which have taken place by the City’s request following the collapse. The changes will be implemented next week by Jacksonville’s Public Works Department.

GALLERY: Liberty Street collapses at Coastline Drive

Liberty at Coastline- both are technically considered bridge structures because they're built over water- collapsed more than two months ago. Power to nearby townhomes was literally torn out, and the immediate roads- as well as an adjacent parking lot- were closed. Since then, the concrete slab that was once the road has been hanging in the hole.

Before an official determination can be made on what caused the collapse, that slab must be demolished and other debris cleared so that divers can safely inspect the site. That $250,000 price tag will likely come from money that was earmarked to repair another Liberty Street collapse.

“I do believe this would probably have been one of the best places to try to pull it from,” says City Council President Clay Yarborough.

The bill that was introduced to Council this week would take the money from the $750,000 Council allocated in January to repairing the other collapse site. A special committee examining Jacksonville's Capital Improvement Plan endorsed the bill.

“Find the dollars that were going to go to a similar purpose without having to more heavily burden the City budget,” Yarborough says.

That 2012 collapse- which is just feet away from the recent collapse- happened when a contractor left overweight equipment on the structure. The resolution of liability remains in the courts, but Council decided it would be in the public interest to finally patch up the hole and seek reimbursement.

While it’s not specifically addressed in the bill language, Yarborough says he’s been given the impression that the demolition funding can be pulled from the repair project without needing to later put more money back toward the repair. The 2012 hole repairs are on hold as a result of the recent collapse.

Both Liberty Street and Coastline Drive were deemed "structurally deficient" in their most recent inspections, meaning significant work was needed on the structures in the near future.  The new closures ordered by the FDOT will remain "until the necessary replacement of remediation can occur", according to an email from the Mayor's Chief of Staff Chris Hand. He says the City is working with all interested parties on a long term solution.

What exactly that solution could be is not clear at this time- it could be as simple as repairing the holes to as invasive as needing to replace or remove the bulkhead structure altogether. We won’t get a better indication of the steps forward until a full inspection is done on Liberty.

Mayor’s Director of Communications David DeCamp said in an email that the demolition is not expected to take a long time.

The Hyatt, which is on the portion of Coastline Drive where the new changes are taking effect, has been notified.

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