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The Villages
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Shoring up Morse bridge could cost residents more than $1 million

A plan to combat erosion at the embankment at the Morse Boulevard bridge could top $1.4 million, and it’ll be residents south of County Road 466 who’ll be picking up the tab.

Kimley-Horn & Associates Inc. will be presenting three options to the Project Wide Advisory Committee on Monday morning.

Soil borings were taken at the embankment earlier this year. You can read more about that HERE.

Those soil borings are part of a Morse Boulevard Lake Sumter Slope Stability Analysis prepared by the engineering firm for members of PWAC, which includes representatives from Community Development Districts 5 through 10. The PWAC meeting is set for 9 a.m. Monday at the District Office at Lake Sumter Landing and is open to the public.

The three options proposed by Kimley-Horn are:

• Alternative 1: Rock revetment is the most aggressive response to the erosion and therefore is expected to have the greatest likelihood of addressing the erosion experienced on Morse Island. This alternative is expected to have the lowest associated maintenance costs. Cost: $1.472 million.

• Alternative 2: Living Shoreline with Toe Breakwater Structure is an aggressive response to the erosion and is expected to have a high likelihood of addressing the erosion experienced on Morse Island. This alternative has a relatively high initial construction cost and is expected to have a relatively low future maintenance Cost: $1 million.

• Alternative 3: Living Shoreline is the softest response to the erosion and therefore is expected to have less likelihood of addressing the erosion experience on Morse  Island than the other alternatives. This alternative has the lowest initial construction cost but may require the greatest amount of future maintenance. Cost: $520,000.

Earlier this year, PWAC representative Ron Ruggeri, a CDD 7 supervisor, pushed for a “forensic audit” to determine if there were any structural problems with the bridge that was built in 2003. You can read more about that HERE

The maintenance of the road over the bridge is the responsibility of the county. The embankment belongs to the residents.

The breakdown of shared PWAC costs is as follows.

Sumter Landing commercial district – .92

Brownwood commercial district – 1.9

CDD 5 – 16.11

CDD 6 – 17.88

CDD 7 – 11.39

CDD 8 – 12.79

CDD 9 – 14.31

CDD 10 – 18.48

CDD 11- 6.20

To read the entire Kimley-Horn report and view the PWAC agenda, click Agenda

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