Work to rebuild Oslo Road boat ramp slated to begin in January

By Elliott Jones (Contact)
Wednesday, December 24, 2008

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Rebuilding of the deteriorated Oslo Road boat ramp will finally begin, ending months of discussion about how to improve it.

Construction of a scaled-back version is to start in January and take about three months, county officials said.

Indian River County commissioners on Tuesday cleared the way by unanimously approving the hiring of Pelican Pete Construction Co. of Vero Beach for $107,800 to replace existing facilities with a single boat launch ramp, plus bulkheads and access docks. The isolated site is at the east end of Oslo Road, on the edge of the Indian River Lagoon.

Conservationists and a number of state agencies objected to earlier plans that included road paving and a larger parking area.

The ramp provides access to a shallow, less-used area of the lagoon that has expanses of underwater grasses important to young fish, said Richard Baker, spokesman for the Pelican Island Audubon Society. Boaters pass through a manatee protection zone and state Aquatic Preserve.

The scaled-back plan "is acceptable," Baker said. And "keeping it (the waters around the boat ramp) as protected as possible will be in the best interests of fishermen in the long run."

Part of the construction includes road signs saying the boat ramp is for shallow draft boats with outboard motors, as well as canoes and kayaks, county officials said.

Also, there will be an environmental display about the importance of the lagoon's manatees, seagrasses and other natural resources.

"It is a pretty pristine area," said Michael Nixon, the county's roadway production manager. At the same time, the new facilities will be safer than the existing decades-old ramp, he said.

Construction costs will be paid for with public grants.

Baker said his group would like to work with the county on finding other environmentally acceptable sites in the county. One would be at the east end of 45th Street, formerly known at the Gifford Dock Road, Baker said.

The county's other public coastal boat ramps are on State Road A1A at the south county line, in Vero Beach, along the Wabasso Causeway and in Sebastian. Also, there are launch ramps in the Sebastian Inlet State Park.

Oslo Road Boat Ramp

•The decades-old county ramp will be rebuilt in the next few months.

•The ramp, at the east end of Oslo Road, is the closest launching site for mainland residents south of Vero Beach.

•The $107,000 construction plan includes putting in a new concrete ramp and adding bulkheads and access docks.

•Parking will remain the same, with space for about six vehicles at the ramp. The parking area is dirt.

•About 15 boats use the ramp to enter the Indian River Lagoon on weekends and about five use it on weekdays.

Indian River County officials