Those of you taxpayers in Lighthouse point have been following the collapsing bridge drama since it first surfaced a couple of years back. At that point, we needed to have emergency work done on one of the bridges as during a normal inspection "pieces fell off"
While technical terms like that would bother some people, we who watched the operations of the current LHP committee waited for the other shoe to drop.
And Drop it did. It turns out that all the the excellent stewardship of our City by the various Mayors and their regimes, NO money had ever been set aside for maintenance or replacement of ANY of the bridges in the City boundaries. Granted, we did inherit most of the bridges from Pompano Beach when LHP split off and became it's own City, but even then, there was NO interest in setting up a "Bridge Fund" or "Authority" or anything of the type. The idea (I am assuming from snippets here and there) is that the town would always be able to beg some money from some other governmental body to handle "patchwork" maintenance but no thought was put into the fact that at some point, the bridges would need to be replaced.
However, our City's need for constant residential construction (constant overweight construction vehicles and at frequencies much higher that in normal City situations) has helped to shorten the lives of our bridges. Not by a huge amount, but the collateral damage of the extra weight to the piers and embankments make for an even more costly repair.
There is an avenue for the City to go explore that involves Broward County, but the City must, first, fill out what is known as a Vulnerability Report. With that finished, the Mayor could petition the County for funds to start the rehabilitation of our bridges. (Setting up an Authority or Investment Schedule to maintain and replace the bridges isn't in the cards because...why?)
Of all the things that City Committee has thrown money at since Covid, you would think that they would at least think about the people that could be left either stuck on or off of their islands. Now, that would be a lawsuit magnet.
We talked to a number of people interested in the problem and it seems that the Mayor and his posse are no closer to doing the right thing now then they were 3-4 mayors ago. The motto "Kick the can down the road" should be on the City letterhead.
One can't imagine how THIS is going to effect real estate prices going forward as you would think that the agents would have to disclose the fact that some of the bridges to housing are in a terrible state, but..... caveat emptor.
Let's close for now with a few of the earlier 2021 documents so you can get a feel for what the town should be dealing with. I am sure that all suggestions will be appreciated. Simply send your emails to the Committee members c/o the City website.
(Ed. Note: the Bridge a Blue Heron(sp?) was completed recently but way over on time, budget? I don't know)
Want to contact your "lawmakers" ??
https://www.lighthousepointfl.gov/Directory.aspx?did=13