Temporary repairs to reopen lanes on State Road A1A in Flagler Beach are underway after Gov. Rick Scott directed the Florida Department of Transportation to expedite the process last week.

  • Temporary repairs underway to reopen 1.3 miles of A1A
  • Stretch runs from South 9th Street to South 22nd Street
  • Project should be done in 45 days; winning bid was $3.95M

Scott on Oct. 20 directed transportation officials to use all available resources to restore two-way traffic on the busy roadway, which was severely damaged during Hurricane Matthew.

A contract was executed over the weekend, and FDOT announced it selected Halifax Paving Inc. to do the work. The firm was one of five invited to bid on the project. The winning bid is about $3.95 million. The timetable for completion is 45 days, and there are additional monetary incentives to get the project completed early, transportation officials said.

The repair project covers about 1.3 miles, from South 9th Street to South 22nd Street in Flagler Beach. The primary focus is to reopen A1A to accommodate two-way traffic with temporary lanes.

Crews officially began work Monday, Oct. 24.

Kimberly Salmon, a Flagler Beach resident, remembers what the road looked like after the hurricane rolled up Florida's east coast.

"A disaster," Salmon said Monday. "It looked like a huge monster had just chewed our lovely road out."

Stan Regula, another Flagler Beach resident, said the work is like a Band-Aid fix.

"I think it's good that if they can do it and get it back to normal, because there's a lot of traffic that's really disturbing our area," Stan said. "It's not going to be permanent. (I'm) hoping they can come up with a permanent solution that doesn't destroy our beach, which we don't have much of."

An open house is scheduled for the public to learn more about the emergency/temporary repairs to the roadway. The open house runs from 2:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016, at Flagler Beach City Hall, 105 S. 2nd St.

Project information will be available for review, and FDOT representatives will be available to discuss the project, answer questions and receive comments.