GREEN COVE SPRINGS – For motorists who have to deal with the closure of the County Road 218 bridge over the south prong of Black Creek, the county’s message is “We’re doing the best we can.”

Well aware of the frustrations the bridge situation is causing commuters, parents trying to get their children to school or just to their school buses, Commissioner Gayward F. Hendry brought up the issue at Tuesday’s Oct. 24 Board of County Commissioners meeting.

Hendry, who represents District 5, where the bridge closure exists, said he has talked to a number of his constituents who are weary of the difficulties caused by the closure. He’s been working closely with the county staff to alleviate the problem, he and staff members said.

“I’ve got some upset constituents in that area and rightly so. I feel their pain. I’ve been out there. I’ve looked at it and the lines are hideous. The drive time to work and to drop off kids are even worse,” he said.

The problem became a “double inconvenience” when work began on shoulder repairs and resurfacing for CR 218 at the same time the bridge went down, he said, warning his fellow commissioners they would probably be hearing complaints from county residents as well since CR 218 has basically become a one-lane road.

“I wanted to let the folks in District 5 know that we’re doing the best we can on this,” he added.

The situation has been complicated by a number of items, said County Manager Stephanie Kopelousos.

“It was something of a perfect storm,” she said.

That perfect storm included everything from the timing of the original project to Hurricane Irma and all the flooding and damage it caused.

The original project was a safety project on CR 218 from Penney Farms all the way to U.S. Highway 301 to add shoulders to the road.

“We’ve had a lot of accidents of leaving the pavement,” Kopelousos said.

The BCC then put some additional funding into the project, which the Florida Department of Transportation matched so that the road could get completely resurfaced.

“Everybody was excited about the project until now. Now, we’re all frustrated because the project has begun at the same time as the bridge went out,” she said.

That occurred when Florida DOT divers discovered that erosion had caused potential safety problems with the bridge.

What’s needed now to alleviate some of the problem is to switch the phasing of the project, Kopelousos said.

“Phase 1 of that project is the worst phase we could do right now,” she said.

Her hope is to have the contractor move to the U.S. 301 side of the project until the bridge can be repaired. But that requires negotiations because contractors put their bids in based on how they will be phasing their work.

Even so, Kopelousos said she has discussed this with both the DOT and the contractor, Leware Construction Co. of Florida, and hopes a resolution can soon be found.

“That’s the goal we’ve been working with DOT and the contractor,” she said. “It is in negotiation.”

The problem is contractors will usually need more time for a project once the phasing is changed, as well as more funding. The time is probably not a problem, but additional money would be an issue, Kopelousos said.

Vice Chairwoman Diane Hutchings suggested emphasizing the hurricane for the problems.

“Could it be too much of a stretch to blame this on the hurricane and get FEMA to reimburse the change,” she asked.

Kopelousos said that was an idea that could be beneficial.

“That’s a great idea,” she said. “I can work on that.”

In any case, it is expected work on the bridge will be completed by Dec. 23.

In another road related item, commissioners unanimously approved a measure to try and obtain a grant to help pay for the cost of the construction of the first part of the road that will serve as the gateway to the proposed Challenger Center mixed- use project. The road is named Atlantis Drive.

The mixed-use project will provide an employment center in the area of the First Coast Expressway, which is in the Branan Field master plan area.

The grant request is for $2,065,000. According to data from the county, the grant would “enhance the county’s $1 million investment for the construction of the first half-mile” of the roadway.

In other action, the commissioners heard an update from John Ward, the county’s director of emergency management, on the recovery from Hurricane Irma. To date, some 168,418 cubic yards of various types of debris have been picked up, he said.

Debris pick up has been a “hot topic” among residents, he said, adding that there is much more debris than was created last year from Hurricane Matthew.

“In three months last year we did 110,000 cubic yards from Matthew so we’ve far surpassed that and we’re not even at the half-way point yet,” he said. “We’ve spoken to a lot of our residents comparing it to Matthew and this truly was unfortunately not like Matthew.”

When asked by Chairman Wayne Bolla if there was an end date in sight, Ward said he believed things would be done by Christmas. But he said, “There’s a lot of debris out there still.”

Bolla said his message to the public was, “We’re struggling but we’re pulling out of this now, I think, and if you still have issues, give your commissioner a call.”