Flagler Beach residents and business owners now know more about the short term future of A1A after FL Dept. of Transportation hosted an open house Wednesday.

  • A1A remains closed after part of road collapsed because of Hurricane Matthew
  • FDOT offering temporary road until permanent fix is finished
  • Project is supposed to take up to 45 days

Hurricane Matthew caused severe damage to Eric Cooley's home.

"The front half of the roof came off completely. Everything inside got wet," said Cooley, who owns a beachside home.

Financially, he said his business is also taking a hit.

"The businesses are suffering, my business is suffering," said Cooley.

He added, the damage to A1A is effecting his bottom line.

"Getting the road open and just stable I think needs to be the number one priority," said Cooley.

That was the goal of the Florida Department of Transportation's Flagler Beach open house at City Hall Wednesday.

More than 100 neighbors and business owners like Cooley got a chance to ask Florida Department of Transportaton representatives questions about the construction they now have to endure as A1A remains closed.

"How long this temporary road might be, when they're planning on having it completed, and when will businesses open," questioned April Sparkman, Beach Homeowner.

FDOT set up picture displays to show the A1A project limits and the new temporary road outlined in pink so people will know how close they are to the construction. 

"The reason why we're doing this temporary fix is it gets traffic going, people access to their homes and their businesses, while we buy ourselves some time essentially to come up with a permanent fix," said Steve Olson, FDOT spokesperson.

But Cooley is hoping this situation won't leave a long-term impact on his home and business.

"Damage you can fix quick, but having a month or two with no business is the really difficult part," said Cooley.

FDOT allowed people to fill out comment and suggestions cards at the meeting. FDOT officials say those will be used to come up with a permanent fix for A1A. The temporary project is expected to take 45 days or less.


Hurricane Matthew caused serious erosion which caused part of A1A in Flagler Beach to collapse. (File)