- April 25, 2024
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The State Road A1A Resiliency Strike Team is leaning toward adding two sea walls to protect the scenic roadway along Flagler Beach and Ormond-By-the-Sea.
The type of sea wall the team is proposing, known as a secant wall, would be buried within a sand dune.
One such proposed wall would be in Ormond-By-the-Sea from Sunrise Avenue to Marlin Drive, and the other would extend from the Volusia-Flagler County line just north of High Bridge Road to South Central Avenue in Flagler Beach.
The two walls combined will cover just over 2.5 miles of A1A’s shoreline, and early estimates for both walls puts the cost at around $100 million, FDOT Project Manager Ty Garner said.
Garner and FDOT’s District 5 Director of Transportation Development Jack Adkins presented the tentative ideas to the Flagler County Commission at its March 6 business meeting.
Garner and Adkins said the team developed its proposal after listening to coastal engineers and community feedback over several months.
Adkins told county commissioners that the Strike Team had asked coastal engineers to look at a 13-mile stretch of vulnerable shoreline to see what potential solutions were available.
“I think they considered everything except moving A1A,” Adkins said.
The strike team is still finalizing the details and proposals, Garner said. There will be two more public meetings on the proposed secant sea walls before the team begins the design process and search for funding.
For Ormond-By-the-Sea, the meeting will be held at the Casements on March 8. In Flagler Beach, it will be held at the Wickline Center on March 21.
The A1A Resiliency Strike Team formed in December in the aftermath of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole’s damage to the counties’ shorelines, and has been hosting public meetings in both Volusia County and Flagler County. It is composed of representatives from Flagler County, Volusia County, Flagler Beach, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Department of Transportation and the Army Corps of Engineers, Adkins said.
The two areas in which the team is proposing secant sea walls are among the more vulnerable ones, Garner said. The team knows from its listening sessions that residents are looking for a more permanent solution that will protect the beaches and tourism while preserving the area’s natural beauty, he said.
“We know from the early engineering ... that a secant wall will work, and it’s constructible,” Garner said.
The estimated $100 million cost, which would be separate from FDOT’s tentative five-year work program, will include the cost of sand and vegetation plantings, Garner said.
“Our listening sessions made it loud and clear that they [residents] want us to take a look at and make sure we preserve the sand and plantings,” Garner said.
In the meantime, Garner said, the Strike Team recommends that current dune restoration projects should continue — including the Army Corps of Engineers’ renourishment project, once the Corps finishes its redesign process.
