The closing of Coastline Drive in front of the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront wasn’t the only development for the Northbank Riverwalk last week.
The St. Johns Water Management District notified the city Friday it has received permit applications to replace Coastline Drive and the Liberty Street bridge.
The latter was a portion of the Northbank that fell into the St. Johns River last February, spurring more than a year of the bridge being shut down and consistent inspections. That part of Liberty Street is considered a bridge because it’s over water.
The project also includes demolition of the old Duval County Courthouse parking lot that adjoins the collapsed area.
The project is scheduled to start June 30 and end a year later, according to an environmental resource permit.
Mayor Lenny Curry proposed a quicker fix than previously planned.
Originally, it was five years and $65 million for the job but Curry’s administration slashed it to two years and $37 million.
Part of that change meant getting rid of the courthouse parking lot between Market and Liberty streets, leaving an inlet where patrons used to park.
It’s the biggest item on the city’s $83 million capital improvement project list this year, with the first-year amount coming in at $17 million — $12 million of which is borrowed.
The other $20 million would be appropriated in fiscal 2016-17, also good for tops on the working capital projects list for that year.
According to city reports, a request for proposals on the work is anticipated to be sent to three design-build firms by the end of the month. Those firms qualified late last year.
Replacing the Coastline Drive section of the Northbank always has been part of the plan, too. It remained open until Thursday when the Florida Department of Transportation ordered it closed due to increased deterioration.
That’s caused the Hyatt to no longer be able to use its Coastline Drive entrance and drop-off point, instead setting up along Newnan Street.
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