PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Pinellas commissioners voted unanimously this week to end a contract with a company hired to replace three of the county's bridges.

The Miami-based American Empire Builders had fallen behind schedule, and officials said the contractor and its surety company didn't respond to numerous attempts to work with them to finish the projects.

"The county is disappointed in both the timing and the quality of the contractor's work," said Pinellas Board of County Commissioners Chair Kathleen Peters during Tuesday's meeting. "We have an obligation to protect the interests of our citizens and have engaged appropriate counsel to prosecute a claim against the contractor and their surety."

County documents show AEB was hired in 2020 to replace the Westwinds and Crosswinds Drive Bridges in the Baywood Village neighborhood of Palm Harbor for $4.4 million.

The next year, it also signed on to replace the Oakwood Drive Bridge in the Harbor Bluffs area of Largo for $3.3 million. The projects were budgeted for in the Capital Improvement Program and were funded by Penny for Pinellas. 

According to a county website tracking the progress of the Westwinds and Crosswinds projects, work on the Crosswinds Bridge began in February 2021 and was expected to last about a year and a half, wrapping up in September 2022. Wednesday, barricades lined one side of the bridge and a sign leading up to it read, "Happy 3rd Birthday to our Bridge Project," and included the question, "Shouldn't we have 2 new bridges done by now?"

"It's just disheartening," said Baywood Village resident John McManus.

McManus lives down the street from the bridge and said residents have been living with problems caused by the project for years.

“There’s consistent traffic issues that are here because a lot of the equipment is hanging out in the road,” McManus said. “On top of that, there’s metal, there’s sharp objects everywhere. When you have kids running all around and dogs, it just creates a dangerous situation for all of us.”

McManus and other residents said a small, park-like area along Crosswinds used to be a place people could sit on benches and relax. They said that hasn’t been possible for years because crews turned the area into a dumping site.

“Barricade barrels, tarped up, rusted metal pieces,” neighbor Michael Brennecke listed as he walked by, pointing out some of the items that clutter the space. “And of course, this lovely port-a-potty that’s been there for awhile.”

McManus lives right across the street from the site.

“It’s amazing — when it’s been here for so long, we don’t even notice it anymore. It’s such a mess,” he said.

The project website chronicles delays caused by utility relocations and permitting, but McManus said at this point, the trash is unacceptable.

“It’s been months and months, and nobody’s been here,” he said. “That’s the part that we have a real problem with.”

Brennecke said he was glad to hear the county terminated its contracts with AEB.

“It sounds like it’s good news, but, I mean, it’d be better if they can make up for their mistake and get somebody out here to clean up this mess and just make this place look like a neighborhood again and not an obstacle course,” Brennecke said. 

Officials said at Tuesday’s meeting the county’s attention would first focus on the Crosswinds project moving forward. That bridge is nearly complete, and the plan is for the county to do the remainder of the work. There was no timeframe for when that could happen or cleanup could begin.

Commissioners were told the Westwinds project is complete, and the Oakwood Drive project needs to be re-bid. 

While legal action is a possibility, Peters said the contractor and their surety recently proposed alternatives to litigation. She said the county is in the process of deciding the best way forward.

American Empire Builders did not respond to requests for comment for this story.