UPDATED JAN. 14, 2022 – BRADENTON BEACH – City officials are not yet willing to accept the maintenance responsibilities for the brick paver sidewalk the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) installed along Gulf Drive North.
Before doing so, the city commission wants the city’s contracted engineering firm, Colliers Engineering, to conduct an independent review of the FDOT project.
Using large brick pavers, the sidewalk was installed in the FDOT-owned right of way along the eastern side of Gulf Drive North, from the S-curve at Avenue C to 10th Street North. The installation began in early October.
During the Thursday, Jan. 6, city commission meeting, Mayor John Chappie said Public Works Director Tom Woodard received an email stating FDOT accepted the project as finalized.
“We weren’t there to do the final inspection,” Chappie said. “We still have items that we haven’t received yet. I think it’s a perfect opportunity for us to use Colliers and their expertise to look at this and determine the quality of work done and what we’re getting into if the city accepts this. I’m not satisfied with it. I have concerns about the public safety. I’m concerned about the unevenness. It only takes a little bit of a misstep and you’re flat on your face.”
Woodard told the commission he received an invitation to attend the Dec. 14 walkthrough but he was unavailable that day. He said he was informed of a second walkthrough, which he believed was later canceled. Woodard said he also received an email stating FDOT had accepted the sidewalk project as finalized.
Chappie said the city has asked FDOT’s project team for copies of its as-build plans, earthwork records and soil compaction tests.
“In my opinion, if you’re in a FDOT right of way you have to have compaction tests,” Chappie said.
Woodard said he wasn’t sure whether the FDOT contractor did soil compaction tests for the sidewalk project. He noted compaction tests are often used when installing crosswalks and parking areas subject to heavy vehicular traffic.
FDOT response
On Tuesday, Jan. 11, The Sun received the following email response from FDOT Communications Specialist Adam Rose.
“The department invited the city of Bradenton Beach to both the 90% walkthrough of the project that took place on 12/14/2021 and the 100% final walkthrough that took place on 12/27/2021. The city did not have a representative that was present during those walkthroughs, nor did we receive any requests for rescheduling or cancelation. Working with local governments is important to the department and we always look forward to finding the best solutions facing the communities we serve,” Rose stated in his response.
Lingering concerns
Chappie noted the city, in September 2020, entered into an agreement with FDOT to maintain and repair the completed sidewalk. City Attorney Ricinda Perry said former City Engineer Lynn Burnett brought the proposed FDOT project to the city but she and her LTA Engineers firm are no longer involved with the project.
In May 2021, the commission was presented with a sample of the oversized brick pavers to be used for the sidewalk project, which at that time raised concerns. While the installation was underway in October, the commission expressed concerns about potential tripping hazards and the manner in which the brick pavers were being installed.
Woodard told the commission he shares the mayor’s concerns.
“I don’t have an issue with sweeping it once we have a sweeper. My issue is with the work that was done in the bike lane and adjacent to the bike lane. It’s a patchwork of asphalt. I just don’t have a lot of confidence in it. If they wanted to continue to maintain the bike lanes and the striping and the asphalt, I don’t have a problem with that, but that’s not what the agreement was,” Woodard said.
When contacted later, Woodard explained that in some places there’s asphalt from the bike lane patches in the spaces between the pavers, which inhibits rainwater from draining into the drainage system below.
“We were excluded from the final sign-off, yet the city is contractually obligated for maintenance in the future,” Perry said. “If we feel this is not built to standards that are in the best interest of Bradenton Beach, and provide health, safety and welfare for the folks using it, we need something to back that up in order to address the legal obligations in the contract for maintenance. Having a professional opinion prepared by an engineering firm puts the city in the best position of strength.”
Commissioner Jan Vosburgh asked Perry if the city can be held responsible if someone is injured while using the new sidewalk.
“Right now it is in the FDOT right of way, it is a FDOT project and FDOT is claiming that it was done to the proper standards that would eliminate falls and hazards to the public using it,” Perry said.
Perry noted that in a litigious society the city could still be named in a lawsuit if a sidewalk user is injured while the maintenance responsibilities are being resolved.
Vosburgh asked if the sidewalk responsibilities can be legally transferred to FDOT. Perry said the only legal approach she sees at this juncture is to make a claim that the completed project is outside the scope of what the city accepted in the signed agreement; or that the completed project does not satisfy the city’s safety requirements because the city considers the sidewalk to be unfinished and unsafe.
“I can’t get to that step until I feel I have the evidence to support the city, and that evidence I’m asking for is an engineering review,” Perry said.
Perry recommended the commission adopt a motion that formally states the city is postponing its final acceptance of the FDOT project until all requested documents have been received from FDOT and an independent review has been conducted by Colliers Engineering.
The commission adopted the recommended motion after first adopting a separate motion authorizing Colliers to perform the requested engineering review, and to also review two unrelated potential grant-funded projects at a total cost not to exceed $10,000. One of the additional engineering reviews pertains to a potential Gulf Drive North landscaping project and the other pertains to a stormwater-related hazard mitigation grant.
The commission passed a third motion directing Perry to prepare a legal opinion regarding the city’s maintenance obligations for the new sidewalk.
As of late Monday morning, FDOT had not provided comment to The Sun regarding the city’s concerns.
