Pinellas County to replace Thirteenth Street bridge to Paradise Key; construction expected in late summer 2025

Pinellas County officials said the design is complete for a replacement of the Thirteenth Street bridge — the only ingress and egress for the Paradise Key neighborhood within Tierra Verde — and that construction is expected to begin in late summer 2025.

Rob Meader, transportation section manager for Pinellas County, told residents during a virtual pre-construction meeting that "the design phase is complete, and we have scheduled the contract, or hired the contractor to, build the project." He said the county anticipates a start in August 2025 for work that will last about 24 months but added the start "may move to September" because Sunshine Water reported a delay in getting its contractor on site.

The project will replace the existing Thirteenth Street bridge over Pine Key Cutoff (also called Mud Bayou) and reconstruct the roadway approaches. County presenters said the new structure will have two 12-foot travel lanes, minimum 6-foot shoulders and 6-foot sidewalks on both sides of the bridge; the roadway outside the bridge will include curb and gutter and sidewalks per the presentation. The new bridge will increase horizontal navigational clearance by approximately 18.5 feet and raise vertical navigational clearance by about 2 feet to 12 feet, 8 inches above mean high water.

County staff outlined utility work that will occur before major bridge demolition. The project includes replacing a reclaimed water line on the south side, replacing a potable water main on the north side and replacing a sanitary force main maintained by Sunshine Water. Staff said both water lines will be placed under the canal and that all improvements will be made within the existing right of way.

Because Thirteenth Street is the only access to Paradise Key, the county will stage construction in phases to maintain access. Early work (Phase 1a and 1b) focuses on utility relocations; Phase 1a will replace the reclaimed water line on the south side while keeping travel lanes unchanged and allowing pedestrians to use the north sidewalk. Phase 1b will replace the north-side water main with no reduction in travel lanes but with pedestrians detoured to the south side. A temporary pedestrian crossing will be provided just west of Third Avenue South.

During Phase 2 the county will remove halves of the existing bridge to build halves of the new bridge. Each half‑demolition will narrow the existing bridge to a single travel lane controlled by temporary traffic signals at each end so traffic can alternate one direction at a time. County staff said Third Avenue South and Thirteenth Street intersections will be closed during parts of Phase 1b, 2a and 2b, and a detour will route Third Avenue South traffic via Eleventh Street East and Second Avenue South.

Project schedule details given in the presentation: design and permitting finished in 2024; the county advertised the project to contractors on March 28, 2025; bids were received April 24, 2025; and on June 17, 2025 the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners awarded the contract to Conan Graham Incorporated. County presenters said updates will be available on the project webpage and through Alert Pinellas (text 13 to 888777 to subscribe). Contact emails for the construction project administrator, Brian Petty, and the design project manager, Arturo Martinez, were provided on the project page.

Residents used the meeting Q&A to press the county on localized issues. Joan Rice, the multimodal transportation engineer moderating questions, relayed concerns about chronic flooding on Second Avenue South between Eleventh and Thirteenth streets; Meader said the county is working with its stormwater operations group, that a missing baffle and a pipe clogged with concrete had been identified, and that staff are "planning to have that removed." He said the county expects a contractor proposal the next day and that repair timing is not yet scheduled. For traffic calming, Meader said the county can deploy a speed feedback trailer and request additional patrols from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office during construction.

On a related concern, residents reported a failing private seawall near a Frontier property. Meader said the county will tie the new public seawall to adjacent private seawalls but that property owners are responsible for repairing failed private seawalls; he said the county is not aware of an operational issue specific to the Frontier property but will "look into" it. Attendees were told to send photos of seawall damage to Audrey Abels (the county liaison assigned to TVCA) or to Arturo Martinez.

For the community, the county emphasized that temporary signs, pavement markings and traffic signals will guide drivers through single-lane operations, and that pedestrian access will be maintained with temporary crossings and sidewalk detours. Project updates, the county said, will appear at pinellas.gov/thirteenth-street and via Alert Pinellas.