After receiving complaints from a recreational boater and the Jacksonville Waterways Commission, the U.S. Coast Guard adjusted the Downtown railroad bridge closure schedule.
The adjustment addresses access to the St. Johns River for both recreational and commercial boaters.
Florida East Coast Railway requested a closure schedule to perform routine repairs to its Downtown bridge, which runs parallel to the Acosta Bridge.
The U.S. Coast Guard granted a schedule that has the bridge closed to navigation from 8-11:30 a.m. and 12:30-5 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, starting Sunday and ending at 5 p.m. March 29.
FEC originally asked for a Friday-Tuesday closure schedule, but Lamb’s Yacht Center CEO Downing Nightingale complained to the Coast Guard and the commission that the schedule would be detrimental to his business and recreational boaters.
The Coast Guard reviewed the complaint and developed the new schedule to meet the needs of the bridge owner and recreational and commercial boaters.
A letter from the U.S. Coast Guard was sent to the commission to address its concerns for recreational and commercial boaters.
“The FEC repairs are a necessary step toward the permanent repairs to this structure scheduled from Jan. 15 through March 29, 2012. This work cannot be completed during nighttime operations nor would it be beneficial to reduce the amount of time allocated for this requested closure,” said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. R.M Kenin in a letter to the commission.
“Reducing the time could extend this project an additional month or more. This is unacceptable since it is the start of boating migration season and may unreasonably disrupt the seasonal flow of boating traffic transiting during this time period,” said Kenin.
Commission Chairman Don Redman said at a meeting Wednesday that he was pleased with the quick response and solution presented by the Coast Guard, but he said he remained puzzled by the repair schedule.
“If you can work on a highway at night, you should be able to work on a bridge at night with proper lighting,” said Redman.
FEC replaced some wooden railroad ties in November on the more than 100-year-old structure that has undergone a regular repair schedule.
The closure schedule was requested so FEC could continue its maintenance schedule and replace metal cover plates that support the structure on top of the bridge and sit between the steel beams and the wooden ties.
When closed, the bridge provides a vertical clearance of five feet above mean high water and a horizontal clearance of 195 feet. The dimensions only allow for smaller recreational boats to pass under the bridge when it is closed.
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