St. Lucie County works year-round to prepare for severe weather.

The Traffic Section of the Road and Bridge Division has been upgrading signals at 13 intersections with backup batteries this year. Robert Andrejcak, Traffic Operations Superintendent, says this will help keep them operational following an outage.

Following impacts from Hurricane Milton in 2024, County staff restored power to intersection traffic signals by deploying and maintaining generators at key intersections. It was a herculean effort, with employees across multiple disciplines stepping up to assist. They not only delivered and installed the generators at various intersections, but they had to secure and refuel them.

Read about this, and other preparations being made.

Sidewalks. Roads. Culvert pipes. Before any project involving soil becomes tangible, there’s an important step most people never see.

Engineers first run tests to ensure the ground is dense enough to provide a stable foundation. Loose soil settles and can lead to potholes, cracks, and other deformations in the structure. Engineers compare the potential density of the soil in ideal conditions with the actual density of the soil on location. If the field soil reaches a specific percentage of the ideal density, it passes.

To enhance their understanding of geotechnical testing, St. Lucie County Engineering staff recently visited the testing lab of the Ardaman & Associates, Inc. branch in Port St. Lucie.

Walton Road area residents now enjoy increased access, thanks to a new sidewalk between Southeast Lennard Road and Southeast Green River Parkway.

The project was accepted by the St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners during their Regular Meeting on May 19. Approximately 5,000 feet of 10-feet to 12-feet-wide multi-use sidewalk were installed in the area. Drainage improvements were also implemented along the walkway.

Construction has begun to shift from the culvert repair at Canal 17 to Canal 16 on Johnston Road. See updates about the project on Johnston Road at Canals 16 and 17.

The Oxbow Eco-Center is hosting the St. Lucie Water Champions series through the summer months for anyone interested in supporting a clean, healthy St. Lucie watershed. The program aims to educate participants on the important, complex role that water plays in our environment. Join the initiative and experience insightful wetland explorations, seagrass science investigations, kayak adventures and more.

St. Lucie Water Champions is a free, action-based program series for adults (ages 16 and older), designed to encourage St. Lucie County residents to take part in monitoring and service projects benefiting the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon. The program consists of a blend of digital resources and unique in-person field experiences centered around water in the local environment.

In an effort to increase navigation and protect the water quality inside the Indian River Lagoon and Port of Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County and the City of Fort Pierce have established Anchoring Limitation Areas (ALA) within Fort Pierce Inlet.

The new North Causeway Bridge opened to traffic in May. See local media coverage of the project below.

• CBS 12 News
• WPTV
• WPBF 25 News
• TCPalm
• St. Lucie Voice
• Hometown News