Map courtesy of Osceola County
Just after the new year, construction began on a $103 million project widening and improvement project along Simpson Road, east of Kissimmee in Central Florida, to boost the traffic corridor's capacity and increase safety.
According to an Osceola County news release, its crews are building two sections of the highway concurrently, including the 2.64-mi. northern portion, stretching from Fortune Road to Myers Road; and the south segment from U.S. Highway 192 to Fortune Road.
Simpson Road North is designed to expand from a two-lane to a divided four-lane roadway and include a median and 10-ft. shared-use path for cyclists and pedestrians on both sides of the route.
In addition, the work will add two new stormwater ponds, a closed drainage system, signal upgrades, sidewalks, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) components, guardrails, handrails and gravity walls. Toho Water Authority sewer, reclaimed water and water main utility work also are set to be built.
This section of Simpson Road is slated to take approximately three years to complete, according to Osceola County.
The construction of Simpson Road South will consist of milling and paving, pavement widening, curb ramp and sidewalk upgrades, gravity walls, drainage ponds, pipe and structures, and signing and pavement markings.
New traffic signals also are planned on Simpson Road South at its intersections with New Beginnings Road and Country Lane, and upgraded signals and ITS components are in the works at other intersections. To mirror what is being constructed on the north section of the road, a water main, sewer main and reclaimed water pipe are all due to be installed on the south end of the street.
This part of Simpson Road is anticipated to be finished in 2026.
USACE to Begin Beach Renourishment Near Jacksonville
The coastline along Florida's Duval County is about to undergo a major makeover following the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) approval of a $32.4 million contract for a beach renourishment project covering most of Jacksonville's Atlantic Ocean beachfront.
The USACE awarded the contract to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. LLC, based in Houston. The agency expects work to begin on the project soon.
While the contract award came in late December, Florida Politics, an online news service, reported Duval County's beach communities have been requesting renourishment help from federal agencies since the coastline got hammered by back-to-back impacts in 2016 and 2017 from Hurricanes Matthew and Irma, respectively.
The latter storm produced record flooding as Irma strafed the Jacksonville area, and coastal dunes were heavily damaged as the outer bands of the hurricane brushed the area in September 2017.
USACE officials noted that the beach restoration project will cover Duval County's ocean shorelines from near the mouth of the St. Johns River in Mayport southward through Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Jacksonville Beach to the St. Johns County line — a stretch of the coast about 10 mi. long.
"The project will be 100 percent federally funded through Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies monies," Army Corps officials said in a statement. "The beach renourishment includes construction of both a dune and beach berm with sand sourced from a federally administered offshore borrow area."
Additional work will include beach tilling and monitoring, vibration control and monitoring, checking on environmental species, and observing the water to make sure the project does not produce too much turbidity, according to USACE.
Previous beach restoration projects in Duval County have seen barges moored just off the coast with a huge tube or pipeline pumping sand onto the affected areas. The county often closes the immediate surrounding areas of the beach when the restorative sand is pumped onto the coastline.
The last restoration project was completed in June 2017, shortly before Hurricane Irma slammed Florida.
USACE noted that the restoration project is expected to begin this year. Once it gets underway, the federal agency plans to issue regular advisories to coastal communities in Duval County as the work progresses along the coastline.
Coastal erosion is of increasing concern in the Northeast Florida region, Florida Politics reported.
As a result, St. Johns County Commissioners reviewed a study in December that proposed spending more than $100 million for beach restoration in the southern areas of the county. Those beaches near the Matanzas Inlet, in particular the Summer Haven housing development, have seen extensive erosion in recent years.
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