Park Boulevard Bridge Closure Starts Monday
September 23, 2014
A bridge rehabilitation project will close Park Boulevard Bridge to vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle traffic for a minimum of 30 days, beginning Sept. 29, 2014.
Pinellas County is conducting an upgrade of the Park Boulevard Bridge in Indian Shores. Construction is scheduled to begin Monday, Sept. 29, 2014. This phase of construction will require that the Park Boulevard Bridge roadway be closed entirely in both directions for all pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular traffic. Project plans were made in cooperation with officials from the beach communities.
Indian Rocks Causeway and Tom Stuart Causeway bridges will be used as the detour routes, and signs will be in place to give motorists ample detour information. During the closure, the east/west detour routes will be Walsingham Road (S.R. 688) to the north and the Tom Stuart Causeway (S.R. 666) to the south. Drivers may connect to these east/west routes by using 113th Street North or Seminole Blvd.
While this construction may be an inconvenience for travelers during the closure, the project will improve the roadway bridge for many years to come. Â The improvements will include replacing parts of the machinery that open and close the leaves of the drawbridge. The United States Coast Guard requires that the waterway remain open to navigational traffic. Therefore, the bridge repairs must be done with the spans in the upright position.
The roadway will reopen for evacuation routing in the event of a hurricane evacuation.
Constructed in 1979, the Park Boulevard Bridge connects mainland south-central Pinellas County with the barrier islands at Indian Shores and Redington Shores.