Criminal Defense Attorney in Wilmington Island, GA.

Tybee Road is frequently the scene of traffic bottlenecks - just not in January, when weather is inhospitable to beach-going sunbathers.

The section of U.S. 80 near the Bull River bridge saw a rare winter logjam Monday as the Georgia Department of Transportation began a month-long project to perform preliminary construction related to replacing the Bull River and Lazaretto Creek bridges.

The work will be performed day and night, which came as a surprise to several Tybee commuters who expressed frustration with slow-going traffic at the Bull River Bridge on Monday morning. Crews installed traffic signals overnight on Sunday to reduce the bridge to one lane, which will allow one direction of traffic at a time while reserving the other lane for the bridge work.

According to a GDOT spokesperson, engineers are studying the bridge's substructure and could not utilize a barge because much of the bridge spans marshland. GDOT is starting with the Bull River bridge and will perform the same work at Lazaretto Creek later this month.

"This is necessary work," said GDOT's Jill Nagel. "We’re getting preliminary pre-construction done."

More on Tybee Road improvements:Plans to replace Tybee Island's Lazaretto Creek Bridge and Bull River Bridge gain traction

GDOT announced plans to replace the bridges in early 2022 after decades of lobbying by local government officials and residents. The current bridges were built in the 1960s and limit traffic to two lanes, one in each direction. The new bridges will be wide enough to accommodate a breakdown lane as well as a bicycle and pedestrian lane, which can be used for emergency vehicles.

The new bridges are part of a $100 million project to widen U.S. 80 between the Johnny Mercer Boulevard intersection, located about a quarter-mile west of Bull River Bridge, and just past the Lazaretto Creek Bridge on Tybee Island.

The preliminary work is expected to continue through Feb. 16. The schedule calls for the both bridges to be fully open to traffic between Jan. 19 and Jan. 22 as well as between Feb. 3 through Feb. 6.

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - If you’re staying on Tybee Island this St. Patrick’s Day, you can skip parking at the parade thanks to a shuttle service by Old Savannah Tours.

The shuttles are going to run pretty much all day long starting at 6 a.m. on Friday until 1 a.m. on Saturday.

Joey Serpa, the Director of Operations at Old Savannah tours, says taking the shuttle from Tybee to Downtown Savannah is a great way to avoid fighting traffic and worrying about parking.

”It’s a huge operation. Tybee, we normally use about 40 vehicles just for the Tybee back and forth run. They say every 30 minutes, but sometimes we get a little busy and we’re running a little faster than that.”

If you want to use the shuttle, there are four pickup/drop-off locations available on Tybee Island - River’s End Campground and RV Park, the lighthouse, the DeSoto Beach Club, and Hotel Tybee.

The shuttle will run from there, to the pickup/drop-off location in downtown Savannah - the Marriott Savannah Riverfront on the East end of Bay Street- not to be confused with JW Marriott in the Plant Riverside District.

You can buy a wristband at any of the pickup locations.

“That gets you back and forth all day, as many times as you want. Say you forgot something at your bed and breakfast, you need to run back, you want to come back downtown later, your wristband is good all day.”

It’s a convenient option for paradegoers that want to retreat to the calm of Tybee Island at the end of the night and, one hotel owner said, is a good incentive to get people to stay on the island on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

“We have a good amount of people that decide to stay on Tybee to travel into Savannah for the parade, which hopefully that’ll bring more tourists to the island to be able to travel that way,” said Akash Patel, the CFO of Tybee Lodging Group.

The Old Savannah Tours shuttle is the only shuttle service to and from Tybee on St. Patrick’s Day.

This year, they’re also bringing back a route to and from midtown, with that pickup/drop-off location at the old Sears parking lot at the Oglethorpe mall.

That one runs every hour on the hour, starting at 6 a.m.

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TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - Tybee Island has had a record breaking year when it comes to turtle nests on the island and as of right now there are 35.

The DNR says a coyote has gotten into five of the island’s nests. One of which, was completely destroyed and eaten through.

The DNR knows a coyote is responsible because they have evidence. A picture shows a coyote next to a turtle nest marked off with yellow tape. Because they’ve only seen one set of tracks, the DNR figures it’s acting alone.

Mark Dodd with the Georgia DNR said on developed beaches, like Tybee, finding a food source on the beach is usually a last resort.

“This year was the first time we’ve ever seen any predation of sea turtle nests by coyotes on Tybee,” said Dodd.

While it might be the first time it’s happened on Tybee, Dodd said it is something they see every year as soon as hatching season starts.

“Predators locate nests and the number of nests that are predated increases,” said Dodd.

Dodd says right now there are roughly 4,000 nests along Georgia’s coast.

“Statewide we’ve lost only four nests to coyotes.”

One of which was on Tybee. The coyote, on Tybee, also got into four other nests but Dodd said they weren’t a total loss.

“A loggerhead sea turtle nest has, on average, about 115 eggs and a coyote might take 30 or 40,” said Dodd.

Coyotes are certainly not the only sea turtle nest predator. This year, across the state Dodd said about 120 nests were lost to feral hogs.

So, to help stop further predation volunteers on Tybee took down the yellow tape. Dodd said they’re concerned it’s helping the coyote determine where the nests are.

“We want to remove all that and leave one stake, maybe not in the same spot so they can’t actually use the stakes to locate and depredate the nests,” said Dodd.

Dodd said they put screening over the nests instead. He said it’s an effective method.

“The standard methods we use to protect sea turtle nests from coyotes on some of the islands they’re trapped or hunted, actually physically removed from the beach, which we don’t really have those options on Tybee because of all of the people on the beach at night.”

The DNR said coyotes are generally not a threat to humans, so people shouldn’t panic.

If someone does happen to come across one the DNR said to give them a call and they will take the appropriate action.

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TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - Tybee Island Fire Chief Jeremy Kendrick says it’s still early on, so they’re just in the monitoring phase for tropical system Ian.

They’re paying close attention to the forecasts and meeting with CEMA and other agencies every morning this week as the storm progresses.

Because they’re in the monitoring phase, this does mean that the city is in OPCON 4. You’ll hear the term OPCON used a lot during hurricane season. It stands for “operating condition.”

It describes the level of alert and preparedness that various state agencies are working under. To put it into perspective, OPCON 5 is what the city is under the majority of the time, which is normal day-to-day operations with no threats.

So, again they are working now in OPCON 4 - meaning there’s a possible threat.

Chief Kendrick says they are checking in with the businesses on the island to make sure they’re prepped and ready. He encourages everyone to do the same. He says now is the time to get your home kits in order and get gas for your generators.

He reminds everyone to not be out on the beach or in the water if the weather is really bad and adds there will not be lifeguards out on the beach when the storm is in our area.

“Be mindful of the storm and what a hurricane brings with it. Heavy thunderstorms, heavy wind, heavy rain. Keep your safety first. Keep your family’s safety first. Make sure that you’re secure at your house. Sand is going to be here, delivered to the city if you need sandbags. If their patios are low-lying, their front doors are low-lying you can sandbag those areas,” Chief Kendrick said.

Like Chief Kendrick said, the city did order sand. He said it should be here either Monday or Tuesday. If you need sand, you can come get it at any time. It’ll be near the volleyball court in Memorial Park.

The city of Tybee Island will be posting to its website as well.

Mobile users can download the WTOC First Alert Weather app by clicking here.

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TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) - Ahead of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, several parts of the Coastal Empire are honoring the civil rights icon this weekend.

On Tybee Island, the city hosted its own commemoration that marked its 10th anniversary Saturday and even though the event looked different than years past, organizers say their goal remains the same.

Tybee Island’s Post Theater was home for the celebration which a reflection on the island’s own civil rights advances and an acknowledgment of the work organizers say still has to be done.

“We have come full circle to know that we are one people. We’ve come a long way,” said Tybee MLK Human Rights Organization co-founder Julia Pearce.

Past celebrations have seen a parade march down Butler Ave.

This year, organizers opted for a “parade in place” at the theater without floats or bands, but still giving those the option to gather.

“January is a real cold time to have a parade. Really, it is, it’s cold. It was a gathering, so that’s what we did for the parade,” said Pearce.

Pearce says a common space for musical performances and guest speakers allowed those in the theater to focus on the program’s goal.

“What’s important about Dr. King is that one person can make a difference. He had people working with him, just like we have people working with us. So when people come together for a passion, you can change the world. That’s what we want people to remember,” said Pearce.

Former city officials were honored for their work in bringing MLK Jr. Day commemorations to Tybee, which are grand marshalled this year by former Chatham County judge LeRoy Burke III.

“We have endured a lot of negative things in the past few years and this type of event lets us know that there is hope for us as humans and us as humanity,” said Burke.

Organizers hope that a shared spaces for dialogue and performances will highlight Dr. King’s ultimate message.

“...that all men are created equal, men and women are created equal and we come together to make that so. That’s our job: To make it better, to love everyone, to take away walls of division and just to be one people.”

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