BRIEFS

Weekend rains cause washout on shoulder of State Road A1A

Weekend rain has washed out an over-25-foot-wide section of sand along the eastern shoulder of State Road A1A in Flagler Beach.

The washout occurred in the 3500 block at around 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 16. Construction crews were able to fix the washout by 3 p.m. Monday, July 17 and reopen the road.

Traffic on both lanes of A1A was diverted to Clubhouse Drive until the roadway was repaired, according to a Facebook post from the Flagler Beach Police Department.

FBPD immediately contacted the Florida Department of Transportation on July 16, which sent contractor Louis Berger and crews from Cline Construction to begin repairing the roadway.

FBPD Chief Matthew Doughney said Cline Construction had begun work at 8:30 a.m. on July 17 to reopen the roadway by Monday afternoon.

“This has really been a team effort,” he said. “There’s a lot that goes into getting these things done.”

Doughney said the “extremely heavy” rain caused the collapse.

The FBPD has also been coordinating with the Flagler Turtle Patrol. There are a few turtle nests near the washout site, Doughney said, but so far, none appeared damaged.

Semitrailer crash closes northbound Interstate 95

A semitrailer crashed into a disabled car on Interstate 95 and jackknifed the morning of July 13, shutting down all northbound lanes from Palm Coast Parkway to Matanzas Woods Parkway.

Southbound I-95 was still moving, but with one lane closed. No one was injured, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The crash occurred at about 5:02 a.m., and lane closures lasted into the afternoon.

A southbound sedan had been stopped in the southbound lanes after the 19-year-old driver lost control of the car and struck the center guardrail, then veered back into the roadway near mile marker 292, according to a news release from the FHP.

The driver and his passenger, a 46-year-old man, got out of the car and stood on the shoulder.

Soon after, a 59-year-old Port St. Lucie man driving south in a tandem semitrailer didn’t see the disabled car and struck it.

The truck pushed the sedan onto the shoulder and into the tree line, then struck the guardrail and jackknifed across all three northbound lanes.

The truck was carrying a small amount of sodium nitrate and an acid-based chemical, and spilled several gallons onto the road, according to the Palm Coast Fire