St. Lucie River FEC Railroad Drawbridge Closure 5/1 - 5/21

Just received this from a friend in Stuart. Apparently the railroad has teamed up with the Coastguard to make some new friends.

Starting May 1st at 6 Am until May 21st, the St Lucie River Railroad Bridge will be closed for repairs.


Prior to the full-time navigational closure on the 1st, there will be nighttime closures to vessel traffic starting on April 19th, where the FEC railroad drawbridge will be closed from 8 pm to 6 am, at which time the bridge will operate normally. Upon reopening of the bridge to vessel traffic, there will be an additional period of nighttime closures for approximately 7 days, or May 22nd to 28th, from 8 pm to 6 am.


Hopefully I will be through there the first week of April.

Ted

Ted, now you have a schedule to keep. One of the cardinal sins in boating…

I have a long RR bridge story. I'll probably tell it at some point.

Proceed with caution and extreme deference, always.

Comodave said:

Ted, now you have a schedule to keep. One of the cardinal sins in boating…

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No worries, I like to chase Spring up the coast. It's too hot come the 1st of May down here.

Ted

For those unaware, the bridge closure does not affect the Intracoastal waterway, only the Okeechobee waterway.

Has this gone final? Last 'official' word (last week) was that Brightline had PROPOSED that schedule to the USCG. There had been no official word if the USCG had approved the proposal.

It wasn't in USCG District 7 LNM (week 04/23, published 24 JAN), as an Advance Notice project (Section V), A Proposed Change (Project open for public comment) (Section VI), or General Comment (Section VII).

PJHoffnet said:

Has this gone final? Last 'official' word (last week) was that Brightline had PROPOSED that schedule to the USCG. There had been no official word if the USCG had approved the proposal.

It wasn't in USCG District 7 LNM (week 04/23, published 24 JAN), as an Advance Notice project (Section V), A Proposed Change (Project open for public comment) (Section VI), or General Comment (Section VII).

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I was forwarded the email by a resident of Sunset Bay Marina, from the Harbor Master.

Ted

Some info....

https://news.yahoo.com/brightline-planning-three-week-closure-165250401.html

No response from Coast Guard
As of Friday morning, the Coast Guard had not responded to Mast’s letter, Graham said. A Coast Guard representative could not be reached for comment.

“Why is our community constantly asked to bend over backwards in order to accommodate a company that has tried to steamroll us at every turn?” Mast asked in a news release. “The Coast Guard needs to take a good hard look at the devastating impact Brightline’s current plan would have on businesses that rely on bridge access. It’s unacceptable.”

Looks like this is going to happen.
Source: Letter to Representative Brian J. Mast from RADM McPherson, USCG District 7 Commander
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"The Coast Guard has completed its review of the proposed Brightline/FECR maintenance project, including the temporary deviation to the operating schedule of the FECR drawbridge. I have decided to approve the temporary deviation which will allow the draw-span of the FECR drawbridge to remain in the closed position for up to 21 days from May 1, 2023 to May 22, 2023,"
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https://mast.house.gov/_cache/files....5730-radm-letter-to-rep-mast-17feb23-93-.pdf