Along US 1, the airport frontage from Aviation Boulevard to 107th Avenue is next in line for new landscaping. The pre-construction meeting was held October 1, but the city is holding the Notice to Proceed until November 9 because a utility contractor still has to finish installing the force main for the deep injection well project in the same area.
The rest of Marathon's winter projects follow the same pattern. The bridge on 117th Street, the park at the Quay, the splash pad at Community Park, the docks and building at Seven Mile Marina: each one starts after another job is done or after the city's engineering staff has room to take it on. The city's October 13 engineering update is open about this. It says the city is still holding off on bidding one project because it wants "to ensure our limited project management staff is not overwhelmed."
The order matters more than any single project. It decides which part of your routine gets disrupted in November, which gets back to normal by February, and which won't start until next year.
The bridge comes first because two more are behind it
The memo lists the 117th Street project as the "117th Street, 116th Street & 112th Street Bridge Replacement," so it covers three bridges. Only 117th Street is ready to build. The pre-construction meeting was held October 6, and the Notice to Proceed is expected in early November. The contractor then has 210 days to reach substantial completion and 240 days to finish. The other two bridges are further back. Plans for 116th Street are at 90% and with FDOT for review. Plans for 112th Street are at 30%, and the city's consultant is responding to the district's comments.
If the start comes in early November, the 240-day final completion date falls around early July 2027. Neighbors of the 116th and 112th Street bridges should count on their turn coming after that.
The awarded bid was $1,561,817.29, under the city's estimate of $1,751,644. The project is now a full bridge replacement. New piles and a new abutment will go in behind the existing ones, so the old abutment and piles can stay where they are. The city says this keeps costs down and limits disturbance to the properties next door.
For anyone who uses the bridge every day, the build order matters most. Crews will demolish and rebuild half the bridge, move traffic onto the new half, and then do the other half. The goal is to keep one lane open the whole time. The city says there may be short periods when the bridge is closed to all vehicles, and that residents will get "ample notice" before those happen.
The airport frontage waits for work underground
The US 1 beautification project is waiting on an underground utility job, and it shows how one project's schedule sets another's. Under Resolution 2026-87, VisualScape will plant decorative beds along the airport frontage between Aviation Boulevard and 107th Avenue. The base bid is $294,570.60. The city can add three more months of maintenance for $40,000, which brings the not-to-exceed total to $334,570.60.
The contractor has 90 days from the Notice to Proceed to reach substantial completion and 120 days to finish. If the start holds at November 9, the beds should be mostly done around early February and finished around early March.
The maintenance terms bring staffing up again. The contractor waters and maintains the new plantings for the first 90 days, and then the city takes over. The city can extend the contractor's maintenance by another 90 days if it decides it doesn't have enough staff when the first period ends. The $40,000 option is there in case the city is short of people in the spring.
The Quay is the project with a deadline
The Quay boat ramp at MM54 is the job the city is pushing to finish this winter. As of October 13, all the stormwater work was in, along with the road subgrade and base, and the project was "on schedule for completion by end of January."
The design dates back to 2024. That February, Keys Weekly reported that the council chose a plan with a second double-wide boat ramp, a vehicle turnaround and smaller park features. Keys News described the design at the time. The new ramp would sit in a "T" layout so two captains can pull in side by side and back straight down. A loop drive would give trailers a place to wait off the highway. The existing ramp would become a kayak launch. The city's November 2025 invitation to bid describes the work more broadly as a new park with drives, pavilions, paver areas, lighting and landscaping. The full list of amenities will be clear when the park opens.
The project exists because of the 2024 reporting on how the old ramp worked. City officials said the Quay was Marathon's busiest boat ramp and brought in the most revenue of the city's three ramps, and launch fees pay for repairs and maintenance at city facilities. Its layout let only one vehicle in at a time, at an awkward 90-degree angle, and officials said it backed traffic up onto US 1 about 40 days a year, mostly on holidays and during events like lobster mini-season. Finishing in January puts the new ramp in service before the busiest launch weekends of 2027.
The docks at the Quay were a separate job. The city's October 13 public works update says LPS was finishing the dock replacement, and city crews were adding a safety rail and protective bollards.
At Seven Mile Marina, one project is waiting on staff
Seven Mile Marina has both a finished project and a waiting one. The finger piers are complete and ready to lease. The only contractor item left is the canopy over the Fire Department's boat lift, which is on back order. City staff did several small improvements themselves so the city wouldn't need a change order, and the memo says that saved a substantial amount. The long marginal dock along the south seawall stays closed until city staff finish restoring and stabilizing the concrete, which was expected by the end of October.
The marina building is the project the city chose to hold. The renovation will make it the permanent reception point for Pigeon Key and give the marina staff an office. It will also add space the city can lease and enclosed lockers for charter boat captains. The city says it will bid the work once its current projects are nearly finished. Of all the projects on the list, this one waits only on staff time.
Community Park adds its pieces one at a time
Community Park shows the order clearly. The skate park is built, including the final asphalt and sidewalks, and its permit is closed. The contractor is still working through a punch list under a separate infrastructure permit, and the city won't release final payment until every item is accepted.
The splash pad is next. Its engineering drawings and site plans are finished, and the project is in permitting with both the Building Department and the County Health Department. The city expects construction to start in November and take about 100 days. If it starts in mid-November, that points to late February.
The restroom building for the skate park and splash pad comes last. Its design is at 90%. The city's engineering department is designing the site plan and the sewer pumping station in-house, and the project is expected to go out to bid in early November. A TDC grant pays for it. Because bidding is only now starting, the restroom will very likely open after the splash pad.
At Sombrero Beach, crews working on the information and security building found damage to the roof sheeting and framing from an apparent leak. The city asked the contractor to replace the whole roof, not just half.
The winter in order
Here are the city's projected dates, with approximate finish dates worked out from the contract durations above. Every date depends on the job before it staying on schedule.
- Early November. Notice to Proceed expected for the 117th Street bridge. The Skate/Splash Facility Restroom goes out to bid.
- November 7, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The Hope Walk Luminary Event at Crane Point, a candlelight walk honoring cancer survivors and those who have died, according to the Marathon Chamber's event listings.
- November 9. The US 1 beautification on the airport frontage is scheduled to start.
- November. Splash pad construction expected to begin at Community Park.
- December 4 and 5. The FKCA/Zonta Festival of Trees Christmas party on the evening of December 4, and Lignumvitae Christmas from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on December 5, according to the Chamber's December calendar. Also on December 5, 7 Mile SantaCon runs its five-stop poker run from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tickets are $60, the event is 21 and over, and a bike rental from Marathon Bikeworks is included. The organizers say stops may change.
- End of January. The city's target for finishing the Quay.
- Around February into early March. The airport frontage plantings reach substantial and then final completion, and the splash pad's 100-day build should end.
- Around early July 2027. Final completion for the 117th Street bridge. The 116th and 112th Street bridges follow after it.
The Marathon Chamber posts its events on its calendar. The Seven Mile Marina building has no date yet, since the city plans to bid it once the current projects are nearly finished. More about the island is in our Marathon neighborhood guide and in our earlier look at August in Marathon.
If you own a home on 117th Street, near the airport frontage, or close to the Quay, finished public work becomes part of your property's story when you sell. Lisa Swanson can show you how the work on your street factors into what your home is worth today. Start with an instant home valuation.
