Pinellas County seeks public input on Dunedin Causeway resiliency plan

Pinellas County is asking residents to identify and prioritize assets along the Dunedin Causeway that could be affected by future coastal flooding as part of a Dunedin Causeway Resiliency and Adaptation Plan public outreach effort. The county says the online survey and other input methods are open through July 16, 2025, and that results will be posted at pinellas.gov/resilientinfrastructure after that date.

County staff said the study — funded by a grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) — covers the causeway from the entrance to Honeymoon Island State Park to the intersection of Causeway Boulevard and Alternate U.S. 19, a distance of approximately 2.5 miles. The study focuses on existing assets, including the roadway (which serves as an evacuation route), recreational facilities such as Rotary Park and the Honeymoon Island Trail, the jet-ski launch and kayak rental facility, utilities that serve Honeymoon Island State Park and nearby residents, and natural resources such as mangroves and seagrass.

The presentation clarified what the study will not address: it will not evaluate proposed bridge replacements along the causeway (bridge impacts and design measures remain part of the separate bridge replacement design phase, which the presenter said is currently on hold), nor will it address other community issues such as temporary jet-ski launch closures, leash requirements for dogs, speeding or noise. The county said a countywide vulnerability assessment and a separate City of Dunedin vulnerability study cover broader areas; the City of Dunedin held a public meeting on its related study on June 9.

Technical work already underway includes environmental analysis begun in September 2024 and an engineering analysis that will be used to model storm and flooding scenarios for 2050, 2080 and 2100. The project team includes representatives from Pinellas County, the City of Dunedin, Pinellas County Aquatic Preserves, Honeymoon Island State Park, the Tampa Bay Estuaries Program, Forward Pinellas, the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and the University of South Florida. A meeting with technical experts is planned for January 2026, and the county anticipates the final resiliency and adaptation plan will be available in spring 2026.

The county described a range of mitigation concepts the study will evaluate: engineered options such as riprap, steel bulkheads and retaining walls; natural approaches such as expanding mangrove fringes, oyster reefs and seagrass enhancement; and combined solutions tailored to specific locations. The presentation noted it is unlikely all strategies would be used at any single site and that funding for design and construction of recommended improvements is not currently available; the county plans to pursue funding for implementation if strategies are recommended.

Residents may submit input via an online survey (preferred), paper surveys at the meeting, sticky notes on a display map at the meeting, or comment forms. The online survey lets respondents pin assets on a map, describe why an asset matters, and answer follow-up questions; responses entered online are displayed on-screen during the meeting as they are submitted. The county provided a project contact, Anne Venables, Pinellas County project manager, at avenables@pinellas.gov for questions and said the project team will assist attendees with completing the survey at the meeting.

The study team said survey responses will be used to help prioritize assets for resiliency strategies that balance engineering feasibility, community values and environmental impacts. The county expects to complete environmental and engineering analyses by fall 2025 and to develop candidate strategies thereafter.