Good news: Sandsprit repairs to begin. Bad news: Same time as Stuart drawbridge closure

If you trailer your boat to Sandsprit Park in Martin County, great news: The long-awaited, long-planned, long-financed project to redevelop the boat launch ramps is getting underway. Finally. In 180 days, and $2.4 million later, boaters should be able to launch without soaking their trucks and SUVs during the extremely high fall tides.

On May 1, Jacksonville-based marine contractor Shoreline Foundation Inc. will start staging equipment in the overflow trailer parking area large enough for about 25 trailers. The west ramps will be open while the east ramps are closed for work first. When the east ramps are completed, they will open while work begins on the west ramps.

Celebration time, right? I'm not so sure. Hold the fireworks and noisemakers for just a minute.

The redevelopment of one of the Treasure Coast's most heavily used parks isn't exactly going off without a hitch. In fact, in order to survive the next few weeks, boaters from Stuart, Palm City and Port St. Lucie will have to display a level of patience they're not exactly famous for.

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St. Lucie River railroad drawbridge in Stuart

Why does May 1 sound familiar to a boater from Martin or St. Lucie counties? Well, that's the same day the Florida East Coast Railway will lock the railroad drawbridge over the St. Lucie River into the down position for three weeks — 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through May 22. The train company needs to conduct long-overdue work on mechanical parts that raise and lower the hulking, rusty, steel draw.

Within months, Brightline passenger train service plans to cross the river via that bridge 32 times a day carrying travelers going to Orlando from cities with stations, such as Miami and West Palm Beach.

"Boats that can clear under the bridge will be allowed to pass," the company said in a recent press release. What it neglected to mention was there is only seven feet of vertical clearance under the bridge. That narrow slot rules out any boat with an aluminum T-top.

The bridge will cause problems for any boaters using marinas in south Stuart, Palm City and Port St. Lucie, including the dozens of boaters who trailer to the C-24 Boat Ramp and Veterans Park, both in Port St. Lucie, and Leighton Park in Palm City. Same for boaters leaving docks behind their yards along the north and south forks of the St. Lucie River, or from Harbour Ridge, Ballantrae, Lighthouse Point, Rustic Acres and HMY Yacht Sales, Apex, Sunset Bay, Riverwatch or Meridian marinas.

Well, that's OK, they can just trailer over to Sandsprit Park, right? Nope! What about the Jensen Beach Boat Ramp or the Jensen Beach Causeway? An unscientific survey I conducted April 23 showed the boat ramps at C-24, Leighton Park, Jensen Beach Boat Ramp and Jensen Beach Causeway were all maxed out with boat trailers.

You get my drift. We're going to run out of boat trailer parking pretty quickly, at least for three weeks.

Sandsprit Park redevelopment delayed for funding

Planning and budgeting for the Sandsprit Park project has been underway for the better part of two years, Martin County Parks Director Kevin Abbate told TCPalm. Shoreline Foundation, Inc., the same contractor that excavated the slip and did the bulkhead work at Derecktor in Fort Pierce, should wrap in time for the arrival of the Spanish mackerel off Peck's Lake. That's one of the area's biggest fishing seasons, which is good news.

The Sandsprit Park work was delayed for two annual budget cycles to get enough funding to pay for it all, Abbate. Some funding — $600,000 — is coming from the Florida Inland Navigation District. However, bidding and budgeting for the park project was taking place when the railroad announced its plans last fall.

When the Sandsprit project is complete, boaters will benefit from new docks, new launch angles and improved fish-cleaning tables. They may have to endure some construction inconvenience through the Memorial Day, July 4th, lobster mini-season and Labor Day holidays — all busy boating periods.

Maybe "Boater-geddon" won't be as bad as I think, suggested Kevin Kerwin, the assistant parks director. Some Port St. Lucie boaters, for example, might trailer their boats to ramps in Fort Pierce, such as Black Pearl or Stan Blum.

Yeah, except the long-overdue, much-anticipated construction of the new $111.5 million, 1.2-mile-long North Bridge is getting underway this week too. The North Island Causeway Boat Ramp is already closed for a year-long renovation project.

It's like Brightline, the Florida Department of Transportation and the parks departments in Martin and St. Lucie County all got together in a secret meeting to decide how badly they could mess with boaters. It's actually all a confluence of random events, but it sure feels orchestrated.

The trailerable boat logjam could have been avoided if the county had delayed the Sandsprit Park construction for a month. Or, when I originally reported on this in March 2022, perhaps fall or winter would have been a better time for this project.

All of this frustration could boil over into classic ramp rage. Maybe I'm wrong, and eager boaters will find their patience buttons.

Looking for something fun to do next weekend? Take a couple of folding chairs and a cooler of adult beverages down to a boat ramp in Stuart or Jensen Beach. Sit back, pop open a cold one and watch the fun unfold.

Ed Killer is a columnist and lifelong resident of Martin County. This is his opinion. Email Ed at ed.killer@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Boat ramps will clog with Stuart drawbridge, Sandsprit Park repairs