Hammock Dunes Bridge upgrades for safety

The toll bridge system that links Palm Coast Parkway to the east side of the Intracoastal at Hammock Dunes will soon have “gates”

By Jacque Estes
| 3:16 p.m. June 13, 2017

Toll worker Steve Bukovack helps a car through the toll booth at the Hammock Dunes bridge. Buckovack lives in Palm Coast and has worked at the toll booth for four years. Photo by Brian McMillan

Palm Coast Observer
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A new system is in place for the Hammock Dunes Bridge that will include bars that raise and lower with each car.

“Our former provider went out of business so it was time up for the upgrade,” bridge manager William Kowaloff said. “It’s been five years.”

The gates have been installed but are not operational. Kowaloff doesn’t have a date on when they will be activated.

The need for the bars stems from motorists who don’t stop for the toll booths.
“Now, we won’t have people plowing through,” he said.

Kowaloff said even residents who use the express card program have been seen, distracted and going through without stopping. The lanes merge into one going over the bridge after the toll booth.

The gates are only being installed eastbound, where motorists have to stop to pay the $2 toll or use their pass. There is no charge crossing the bridge westbound into Palm Coast and the booths in this direction are not manned.

Kowaloff said the fees will remain the same.