"Lipstick on a pig." Lauderdale-by-the-Sea's own staff used that phrase in September for the work the Florida Department of Transportation now plans on the Commercial Boulevard bridge. At the town commission's September 8 meeting, as Citizen Portal reported, the town manager said FDOT had cut the rehabilitation back to limited maintenance. The original plan had called for widening and new pedestrian and bicycle access.
For Bay Colony, which sits west of the Intracoastal and north of Commercial Boulevard, that bridge is the short route to the nearest beach town. The town on the other side is starting its winter season in a new shape. Anglin's Pier, the fishing pier at the end of the boulevard and once the town's main draw, has been closed for four years this month. This season's openings and events are a few blocks back from the water, on Commercial Boulevard and around El Prado Park.
The Bridge Will Get Maintenance, Not the Upgrade
According to Citizen Portal's meeting account, staff told commissioners the scaled-back work would mean no further work on the bridge for another 25 years. Commissioners pointed out that the original design included widening and safety improvements. They asked town staff to push FDOT to either bring back the full scope or put the project off until funding is there.
That matters for anyone crossing from Bay Colony on foot or by bike. The upgrades left out of the current plan were the ones aimed at people outside cars. A deferral would leave the bridge as it is for now. FDOT's smaller scope would mean work on the bridge without the widening.
Separate from the bridge, FDOT already has a project running along the boulevard itself. Its State Road 870/Commercial Boulevard resurfacing and rehabilitation project covers 9.89 miles from University Drive to A1A and North Ocean Drive. It started in January 2025 and is scheduled to finish in spring 2027. The contractor is Sice, Inc., and the estimated construction cost is $25,712,321. Lane closures are allowed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., on weekdays and weekends, as needed. The evening window starts at 7 p.m., right around dinner time on the beach side, and it runs through the whole winter season.
Four Years Since the Pier Closed
In November 2022, Hurricane Nicole caused part of Anglin's Pier to collapse. A building official ordered the pier closed and cut its electricity, and it has stayed closed since. The town does not own the pier. The New Pelican reported in April that the town also has no appetite, or money, to buy it and fix it, and put the cost of a rebuild at $20 million or more.
At the town's April 14 commission meeting, owner Spiro Marchelos said geotechnical borings were finished and the project had moved into design and coordination. The New Pelican quoted him:
"We're trying our best. We're a work in progress."
Two years earlier, in August 2024, the same paper laid out the town's timetable. Permitting and public hearings would run through April 2026, bidding would open in May 2026, and two years of construction would begin in July 2026. Under that schedule, the pier would not reopen before 2028. At the April 2026 meeting, the project was still in design and coordination. That is the month the timetable had set aside for wrapping up permits. The 2024 article also explained why the work is slow. Pilings have to be reinforced underwater, materials have to be designed and made for this specific structure, and the work has to settle and be inspected at each stage.
The closure has an economic side, too. At the April meeting, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea Chamber of Commerce chair Howard Goldberg said 13 businesses in town had closed in the past year. He said the pier was not the cause of all of them but had been a factor. In the New Pelican's account, people who used to visit the pier now take their fishing poles, and their spending, a few miles up A1A.
The Season Starts on Commercial Boulevard
With the pier closed, the town's newest businesses are opening on the boulevard. Two are worth knowing about.
DaVinci Gelato, 100 Commercial Blvd. The Sun Sentinel lists the opening for Sunday, November 15, per the shop's website. The shop is family-owned, run by husband and wife Chris and Anna Minadakis, who started with a location on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. According to the shop, it makes its gelato every morning with grass-fed A2/A2 milk. The menu also has dairy-free fruit sorbets, no-added-sugar options, bubble waffle cones, crepes, gelato donuts, shakes and custom gelato cakes. At the grand opening and ribbon-cutting, the first 100 guests get a free scoop, while supplies last.
Skinny Louie, 107A E. Commercial Blvd. This smash-burger chain started in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood and is coming to a space just off the beach in the town's commercial district, What Now Miami reported in September. The burgers are thin Black Angus patties cooked on a griddle. The signature cheeseburger comes with grilled onions, double American cheese, pickles and Louie sauce, and the menu also has fries and milkshakes.
Both addresses are on the same short stretch of Commercial Boulevard leading to the beach, the stretch that used to carry foot traffic to the pier. This winter the boulevard is the destination.
El Prado Park Fills the Calendar
The town's own events are anchored at El Prado Park, 4500 El Mar Drive. The town's event calendar for the rest of the season:
- Sunday, November 15. DaVinci Gelato's grand opening at 100 Commercial Blvd.
- Wednesday, December 2, 5 to 8 p.m. Christmas By-The-Sea, the town's holiday evening, with a vendor village.
- Sunday, December 6, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Farmers' Market returns to El Prado Park and runs every Sunday through May 2, 2027.
- 2027. The town says to stay tuned for the next Friday Night Music series.
The farmers market is the longest-running item on the list. It runs from early December into May, overlapping the months left on the boulevard construction, which is scheduled through spring 2027.
Getting There From Bay Colony Through Spring
Put it together and the season looks like this. The bridge is Bay Colony's short route to the beach town, and FDOT plans only limited maintenance on it unless the town gets the full scope restored or the work deferred. The boulevard on both sides of the bridge is in a corridor project scheduled through spring 2027, with overnight lane closures allowed from 7 p.m. This winter's reasons to cross are a gelato shop, a burger counter, a holiday evening and a Sunday market, all close to the shore. The pier at the end of the boulevard is still closed, four years after Nicole.
Between FDOT's two closure windows, the boulevard has no permitted lane closures from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. or from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Sunday market, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., falls inside the daytime window. Christmas By-The-Sea on December 2 runs 5 to 8 p.m., so arriving at 5 lands in the gap and only the last hour overlaps the evening window.
Bay Colony's value includes what sits just across the water, and how easy it is to get there changes year to year. If you are weighing a waterfront home in Bay Colony and want to understand how the Commercial Boulevard corridor and the beach town across the bridge fit into its long-term value, Heather Lefka can walk you through it. Schedule a private consultation.
