![]() ![]() Outdoor seating along the Earman River at Frigate’s in North Palm Beach. The payout works out to $38 per square foot, with the state outright owning about half the property and temporarily controlling the rest through December 2027. They initially offered $45,700 before settling three months later. ![]() State officials went to court, not to ascertain who owns the river bottom, but to take nearly a quarter of an acre in five parcels owned by North Palm Beach Properties. That meant buying submerged land, as well as small parcels along the canal banks. To rebuild the bridge by summer 2024, FDOT needs more space for stormwater pipes and other drainage structures and to add barriers to prevent erosion. (FDOT) Reconstruction required land buysĪfter the 2017 collapse of the sidewalk and road shoulder, FDOT inspectors told The Palm Beach Post that two post-tension wires that held the sidewalk to the bridge had failed, causing a huge chunk of concrete to drop into the river below and forcing officials to limit traffic to two lanes in each direction from three. Parcels FDOT is buying to rebuild the U.S. The council even considered building a boardwalk under the bridge to allow pedestrians to cross beneath the roadway, but design difficulties and high costs persuaded them to pass at this time, Village Manager Andy Lukasik said. They also have been working with North Palm Beach officials, who are pitching in an additional $190,000 to add decorative railings, light poles, wider sidewalks, illuminated village logos on bridge supports and the capacity to install underwater lighting. ![]() The new fixed-span bridge would be 18 inches higher than the old and southbound cars would get an extra right-turn lane to go west on Northlake.įDOT officials say they are planning a public meeting in late March and are preparing a project webpage. Plans also call for 4-foot bike lanes and 11-foot sidewalks on both sides of the bridge. Traffic flow on the near Earman River bridge at U.S. The land buy is one of several the state is pursuing before it can start the $7.5 million construction job to restore the bridge to three lanes of travel in each direction. The state agreed to pay $102,000 to cover the company’s court costs, including attorney fees, and $275,000 for the rights to submerged land, court records show. Three months after the state filed an eminent domain suit to take about a quarter of an acre from North Palm Beach Properties, the two sides settled. (Joel Engelhardt photo)įDOT didn’t get involved in the contentious lawsuits that rage over the river bottom rights claimed by North Palm Beach Properties, which is headed by Kim Schwencke of Tampa, the son of one of the original North Palm Beach homebuilders, John “Jack” Schwencke.īut the state agreed to pay Schwencke’s company. Some of that money is going to the descendants of area pioneers who say they, not the public, own the river bottom, potentially muddying the waters in their yearslong battle with homeowners over access to backyard docks. To be ready, the Florida Department of Transportation is spending $1.7 million this year to buy property under the bridge and along the riverbanks. The yearlong task of rebuilding the bridge won’t start until spring 2023. 1 bridge near Northlake Boulevard has been reduced to two lanes in each direction for more than four years since a 35-foot section of sidewalk and roadway plunged into the Earman River in October 2017. ![]()
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