ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — One bridge, a single lane with a narrow sidewalk.
It's the only way to get to and from St. Petersburg's Tanglewood neighborhood, and it's affecting people living in nearly 100 homes on the island.
"It's horrible," said one neighbor waiting at the temporary stoplight.
This week, the city of St. Pete confirmed two more notices of deficiency to the contractor of the construction project American Empire Builders, Inc. for being behind schedule on work aimed to replace the bridge.
10 Tampa Bay first reported on delays in April when the city announced its first notice of deficiency. The construction timeline was more than halfway passed, yet less than 30 percent of the work was complete, the city stated.
The notice stated the company needed to commit to properly staffing and providing adequate materials and equipment to complete the project.
"The big concern all of us out here have is if something happens, that bridge if it collapses, it gets to be where we can't even run a car over it, we're stuck here," said resident Alan Sayler.
City officials including its engineering director were at the neighborhood earlier in the week to address concerns and provide an update for neighbors.
A spokesperson for the city said the contractor was authorized to start work in June 2022. Per the contractual agreement, the project timeline was scheduled for construction ending on December 2023.
For the last year, neighbors said they've expressed concern about safety. For instance, cars not abiding by the temporary stop lights on the single lane, along with concerns over pedestrians.
Sayler said there was also concern about the influx of pedestrians during trick-or-treating for Halloween.
Now, the city states the contractor may need to pay $1,500 per day in liquidated damages after the December deadline. Finding a new contractor could also take months to replace the bridge built in 1950.
The total price of the project is $3.6 million.
10 Tampa Bay reached out to American Empire Builders, Inc. for comment but has not yet heard back.