Key West The Newspaper

MONROE COUNTY HURRICANE DEBRIS CONTRACTOR BEGINS FINAL PASS ON DUCK KEY AND CONTINUES TO AGGRESSIVELY COLLECT ON COUNTY ROADS BETWEEN MM 16 and 40

MONROE COUNTY, FL – Today, Monroe County’s hurricane debris contractor DRC Environmental Services began the final pass for Duck Key, Conch Key and the City of Layton. Crews are staring on Duck Key and moving to the other areas. The delay in the final pass in these areas was due to the difficulty of securing a nearby temporary debris management site.

The contractor will be using a section of the Florida Department of Transportation’s right of way along U.S. 1 at Mile Marker 61 for the temporary debris management site for Duck Key, Conch Key and Layton.

This debris management site is not a dumping site and it remains illegal for anyone to dump debris anywhere along U.S. 1 in the Florida Keys.

DRC is continuing to work on their initial pass in the Mile Marker 16 to 40 area with 17 self-loading trucks collecting construction and demolition debris, white goods (large appliances) and vegetative debris from County roads. The progress to date is as follows:

• Lower Sugarloaf is approximately 75% complete with two crews working on Sugarloaf Boulevard and the roads off of it.
• Upper Sugarloaf is approximately 95% complete. A crew is working in the Indian Mounds subdivision, Crane Boulevard and roads off of the north end of Crane. When they are done they will move to the area on the south side of U.S. 1.
• The contractor has completed a pass on the portions of Cudjoe Key that are on the north side of U.S. 1. A crew is working in neighborhoods along Spanish Main (Cutthroat Harbor Estates) and another crew should be performing a pass in Cudjoe Gardens area at the end of the week.
• On Summerland Key, debris has been collected on East Shore Drives and adjacent roads as well as from roads around the airport. A crew is now working on West Shore Drive and will complete a pass in Summerland Key Cove/Summerland Isles (neighborhoods off of Caribbean Drive).  A separate crew is working on the north side of U.S. 1 on Summerland.
• The contractor has been working on Ramrod Key north of U.S. 1 and and another crew is working on the roads in the Breezeswept Beach Estates subdivision.
• Collection has begun on Middle and Big Torch keys along Middle Torch Road and work is ongoing on Little Torch Key north of U.S. 1. The contractor moved to the Jolly Rogers Estate area on Little Torch (Jolly Rogers Drive) today.
• A crew is completing work on Big Pine south of U.S. 1 today, with the exception of Long Beach Road, which is approximately 80% complete. In addition, the County public works crews have completed a pass on most of the private roads (which are not County maintained ) in this area. FEMA does not reimburse contractors for collection on private roads. For this reason,  County public works crews are doing the collection on private roads, and moving it to the closest County road right of way.
• A crew has been working steadily in the Sands subdivision (the Avenues) on Big Pine and is working on Warner Road. This area is approximately 50% complete.
• In the area north of the Sands subdivision (Palm Villa, Whispering Pines subdivisions), the work is approximately 60% complete.  In the Pine Key Acres area where the roads are private and not county maintained, public works crews have cleared most of the roads and moved the debris to the closest public right of way where it can be collected by the debris contractor.
• The contractor has a crew working in the Pine Channel Estates subdivision and on Ships Way. They are approximately 95% complete with this area and have performed a pass on the roads in Tropical Key Colony subdivision.
• There are crews working or will be working soon in the Eden Pines subdivision and areas north of Watson Boulevard, including Doctors Arm and No Name Key. County crews have finished clearing private roads on Big Pine Key.

As of Dec. 12, 2017, DRC has collected 150,996 cubic yards of construction and demolition hurricane debris and another 99,668 cubic yards of vegetative debris. Work is ongoing in this area and will continue until hurricane debris collection is completed.

This brings the total of hurricane debris removed from County roads by County contractors to 671,437 cubic yards.

FDOT’s contractor also collected 469,185 yards from County roads for a total of 1.14 million cubic yards removed from County roads.

Monroe County’s hurricane debris contractor Ashbritt has completed hauling to the mainland the debris it collected in Key Largo and Tavernier and staged at Rowell’s Waterfront Park in Key Largo, Key Largo Community Park and the Cemex property in Tavernier.