DUNEDIN — County commissioners unanimously approved an agreement that will provide slightly more than $1.3 million in federal funds to repair portions of the Dunedin Causeway that sustained hurricane damage in 2024.
Commissioners on March 24 approved a Local Agency Program agreement, and resolution with the Florida Department of Transportation, for funding of construction and engineering inspection services along county segments of the Dunedin Causeway.
As part of the agreement, FDOT will fund up to $1.3 million, and the county will pay the remaining $105,000 of the $1.42 million project.
Work will be completed by county staff.
According to the staff report, “the project consists of permanent construction repairs to critical infrastructure along the Dunedin Causeway that sustained damage during Hurricane Helene. Restoration will focus on eroded right-of-way, shoreline stabilization and bridge repair.”
“Restoration efforts will focus on placement of fill and surface grading to restore areas of the eroded right-of-way.”
In addition, repair or replacement of the bag wall system will be made to ensure shoreline stabilization and protection against future erosion.
Repairs or replacement of the bridge fender system will also be made, including whale boards and handrails, to restore structural integrity and navigational safety, county officials said. Construction is estimated to be completed by December.
“These repairs are essential to reestablish safe and reliable access to the causeway and to protect against future storm-related impacts,” county staff noted.
Public Works Director Kelli Hammer Levy said the delay in making repairs, which has elicited several emails from causeway users, occurred “because of the different pathways you have to go through for repairs. This one had to go through the Federal Highway Administration, with the agreement then routed through the Department of Transportation to us, so it’s taken an extended period of time.”
“This is the agreement that we needed in order to get that work done,” on the county’s section, she told commissioners.
Commission Chairman Dave Eggers asked whether this work would open up the area west of the large bridge close to the bathroom facility.
“Yes, it’s the county section; where the bathrooms are that’s the city,” Levy said.
Eggers then asked, “are we still talking about having one direction (on the north side of the causeway),” referencing a plan to introduce one-way clockwise traffic circulation as a pilot project.
Levy replied, “Yes, and we will incorporate that into the work that we’re doing.”
In October, a county official told Dunedin city commissioners one area of safety concern involved needed repairs to the sidewalk, fender system and railings on the Causeway Bridge, which it was expected should be reimbursed by FEMA. The county also reported “significant erosion” southwest of the bridge embankments on the Causeway.
