Looks like Ft. Pickens road will be closed for at least two weeks
here is an article from the PNJ:
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
Beaches bend but don't break after Ida[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Serif]
Roads damaged but repairable, officials say
[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]
Thyrie Bland
tbland@pnj.com [/FONT]Tropical Storm Ida's strong winds and driving rain damaged and forced the closure of two heavily traveled beach roads and flooded a Pensacola Beach condominium complex.
The storm left standing water along stretches of Fort Pickens Road on the Gulf Island National Seashore and pushed 500,000 to 750,000 cubic yards of sand along the roadway, chief ranger Clayton Jordan said.
Ida left portions of J. Earle Bowden Way, which connects Pensacola and Navarre beaches, covered with sand and water. There is significantly less sand on the highway compared to Fort Pickens Road, Jordan said.
The storm also caused sections of the bike lanes along both roads to sink or separate from the roads.
It is not known when the roads will reopen, Jordan said. Park officials are still assessing the damage.
In addition to the roads, park staff is surveying facilities at Fort Pickens and Opal Beach to determine when these can be opened to non-vehicular traffic.
In another setback for the popular seaside park, about 3,000 feet of sewer line being installed to Fort Pickens was swept away by the storm.
It is estimated it will cost less than $1 million to remove the sand off Fort Pickens Road and repair it, Jordan said.
A cost estimate was not available for the reopening of J. Earle Bowden Way.
"We are hopeful that under all that sand and water that the roads are basically intact," Jordan said. "We will need to scrape the sand off the roads before we will really know what's going on for sure."
The closure of Fort Pickens Road marks the fourth time since the road reopened in May that it has been closed for weather-related reasons, Jordan said.
Fort Pickens Road was washed out by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. It was rebuilt but was destroyed by Tropical Storm Arlene and Hurricanes Cindy and Dennis in 2005.
The road was purposefully built low, and that allowed sand to blow over the road and protect it from storm surge, Jordan said.
"We are not looking at a major road reconstruction like we had after Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis," Jordan said. "The damage after each of those storms was many millions of dollars."
On Perdido Key, Johnson Beach Road also is closed because of sand on the road.
The road may reopen within a week or two, Jordan said.
