Stuart - Friday August 11, 2023: The U.S. Coast Guard has published a revised operation schedule for the Florida East Coast (FEC) railroad drawbridge in Stuart that will allow it to remain in the "fully open-to-navigation position, except during periods when it is closed for the passage of train traffic."
The notice of "temporary deviation from regulations" was published in the Federal Register Friday morning.
This schedule modification will take effect tomorrow, Tuesday August 15 at 12:01 a.m. It will remain in effect through 11:59 p.m. on December 17.
The Coast Guard is considering a more permanent operating scheduled "to allow the drawbridge to operate on a more predictable schedule" and they are soliciting comments from stakeholders which must be submitted by October 15.
Comments can be submitted through the Federal Decision Making Portal at: https://www.regulations.gov.
Revised Temporary Operating Schedule for the FEC Drawbridge
The bridge will not be closed for more than 50 consecutive minutes in any given hour during daytime operations from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.. And it will not be closed for more than 8 total hours during daytime operations from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The drawbridge will open and remain open to navigation for a fixed 10-minute period at the top of each hour from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
In addition, the drawbridge will open and remain open to navigation for a fixed 15-minute period as outlined in the table below:
From 10:01 p.m. until 5:59 a.m. daily, the drawbridge will remain in the fully open-to-navigation position, except during periods when it is closed for the passage of train traffic, to conduct inspections, and to perform maintenance and repairs authorized by the Coast Guard. The drawbridge will not be closed more than 60 consecutive minutes.
If a train is in the track circuit at the start of a fixed opening period, the opening may be delayed up to, but not more than, five minutes. Once the train has cleared the circuit, the bridge must open immediately for navigation to begin the fixed opening period.