Plaza to Drawbridge: Dunedin Causeway Changes Inevitable

Ready or not, changes to Dunedin Causeway are on the way, from the retail centered Bayshore Boulevard and Curlew Road intersection to the entrance of Honeymoon Island State Park.

Publix Super Market’s renovation and facade improvements to Caladesi Shopping Center, Frenchy’s recent takeover of the Island Outpost restaurant and whisperings of a possible Walmart grocery store inside Causeway Plaza all signal the beginning of a what could be a near renovation of the entire sleepy, corridor.

Facelift in Future for Causeway Plaza and Corridor 

The former Island Outpost had plans to expand before Frenchy's took it over last week. Owner Paul Kalli wanted to transform the vacant neighboring parcel into a mixed-use, retail-residential destination on Causeway Boulevard, he told Patch in April 2012. 

Kalli's vision was in lock-step with what city development officials envision for the mainland side of Causeway Boulevard. 

For the past few years, the city has been working on updating land use, zoning and building codes so that Causeway Boulevard will develop in a way that enhances its pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly feel and encourage walkability, a concept most residents supported in an intensive, collaborative planning session.

Future retail buildings will be brought closer to the road, with parking tucked behind or underneath. New construction on certain parts of the causeway requires structures to be at flood base elevation, which means depending on the building's location, it will have to be raised above ground. 

The walkable concept runs all the way east to Causeway Plaza as well, whether or not a Walmart Neighborhood Market ends up at the shopping center.  

The new zoning and land use codes encourage subdivision of the expansive 566-space Causeway Plaza parking lot, which City Economic and Housing Development Director Bob Ironsmith called a “big sea of asphalt” during a January 2012 workshop. 

The codes encourage smaller shops, a possible courtyard and an internal road system inside the plaza, not unlike "a much more scaled-back version of Clearwater Mall," as Commissioner Julie Scales compared it to in the same January 2012 workshop.

"There's no development going on here at the moment because everybody's afraid to take the first step," Kalli told Patch in April 2012. "I plan on doing that."

At the time, Kalli hoped to start construction within the year.

Kalli sold his Dunedin Causeway location to Frenchy's on June 25. It is now the Frenchy's Outpost Bar and Grill, and the corporate office says it's in no rush to make big changes.

Dunedin Causeway Bridge Will Need To Be Replaced

At the crux of change is Dunedin Causeway's aging bascule bridge, joining natural, scenic Honeymoon Island State Park to the mainland.

The 1963 drawbridge was blamed for the city's reluctance to enter into a regular-term agreement with Sail Honeymoon, an iconic, 20-year kayak and sail boat rental concession along the causeway. Instead, owner Glen Steinke operated his business for six years on oral contracts for six years at the city's request.

At the time, officials were waiting to see how or if Pinellas County's pending plans for a large-span bridge would effect the placement of his business.

The 1963 drawbridge's last routine inspection — July 24, 2012 — yielded a 82.4 health index rating out of 100, which shows it is in OK condition, especially compared to many other county bridges. But because engineers consider the Pinellas County-owned bridge functionally obsolete, meaning it's not built to the most current safety standards, it received a low structural efficiency rating of 48.6.

A county infrastructure official said Dunedin Causeway Bridge, which sees a daily average of 9,840 vehicles, had narrow lanes, deteriorating concrete and other safety features that don’t meet current design standards, according to minutes from a November 2012 Pinellas Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting.

In recent months, mechanical issues caused the drawbridge to become stuck in the upward position, delaying motorists and pedestrians for about two hours on April 18.

County infrastructure officials said the bridge needs to be replaced in the next 10 to 12 years during the November meeting. It received $1.6 million in rehabilitation work in fall 2009, and will need ongoing repairs until it can be replaced.

This has county officials concerned because Penny for Pinellas funding for the bridge's replacement could soon dry up.

Vice Mayor Julie Ward Bujalski, who sits on the board, suggested bumping up the bridge’s 2016 preliminary engineering study during the November meeting.

The possibility of the bridge's replacement, tentatively scheduled for sometime after 2020, has some Dunedin residents worrying that the county would build a large span one like Clearwater’s Memorial Causeway Bridge, constructed between 2001 and 2005. However, Clearwater’s bridge, which was chosen from many alternative designs in 1998, fit the city’s desire for an architectural signature structure.