Correction: The Florida Department of Transportation will continue with its plan to close the 17th Street Bridge for construction from Monday Dec. 9 through Friday Dec. 13, according to Monte Falls, Vero Beach city manager. Another construction project taking place at the Indian River Boulevard and Merrill P. Barber Bridge intersection will begin in January.
A traffic sign that sits along Beachland Boulevard, which connects to the Merrill P. Barber Bridge, states that road work begins on Jan. 6, 2025. Falls clarified that the sign refers to the work that will be completed on Indian River Boulevard.
The Barber Bridge will not close for the construction project, said Matthew Mitts, public works director for Vero Beach.
Earlier story:
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), which in recent years seemingly has specialized in snarling island traffic along A1A during season, this year seems to be preparing to take things a step further by simultaneously disrupting traffic on both bridges connecting the barrier island to the Vero mainland.
One of the bridges is now slated to undergo a new construction project starting in January while the other bridge is scheduled to be totally closed to all traffic, creating a potential nightmare for people traveling between the island and the mainland just as the busy winter season kicks into high gear.
The 17th Street Bridge, also known as the Alma Lee Loy Bridge, will be closed to all traffic for a week starting Jan. 6, 2025, according to the latest announcement by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), a closure that has already been postponed twice.
It was originally supposed to have occurred starting Dec. 2 (this week), and then was pushed back a week to a Dec. 9 (Monday) start date. No reason was given for the new delay into the New Year.
However, Jan. 6, 2025, is also the start date for a new reconstruction project on the Merrill P. Barber Bridge connecting Central Beach to the mainland. That project had also been scheduled to start earlier, on Dec. 6, but also was postponed – as it happens to the same date the South Beach bridge at 17th Street will be totally closed.
A state transportation spokesperson said no one as available to explain the unfortunate timing last week because Gov. Ron DeSantis had given all state employees a five-day Thanksgiving Day weekend off.
While the 17th Street Bridge will be closed, its entire normal daily volume of 20,000 vehicles will be pushed off and detoured onto the Barber Bridge, but now it turns out that the Barber Bridge will also be compromised at the Indian River Boulevard intersection by orange barrels and work crews.
Mobile warning signs have been posted at both ends of the Barber Bridge telling motorists that the new construction work would now start on Jan. 6, not on Dec. 6, according to the information posted on the FDOT website.
The new Barber Bridge project involves rebuilding 0.43 miles of the western foot of the bridge at the Intersection of Indian River Boulevard to add turn lanes, improve safety and make traffic flow more easily. The project will cost $3.7 million and is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2025, although in view of the late start, it is not known if that target completion date will see some slippage, as has often happened with many FDOT construction projects.
The contract has been awarded to Ranger Construction Industries, Inc., of West Palm Beach, part of the Vecellio Group construction companies specializing in bridge construction. Other Vecellio subsidiaries are also doing the 17th Street Bridge rehabilitation and building the new bridge over the Fort Pierce Inlet at the southern tip of North Hutchinson Island.
FDOT says the Barber Bridge plan to improve traffic flow and safety will be executed in phases “to minimize traffic disruptions.” The highlights of the project include extending the right-hand turn lane on Indian River Boulevard all the way back to the canal bridge to increase capacity for motorists heading for the island from the mainland, as well as adding a second left-hand turn lane for southbound traffic on Indian River Boulevard seeking to use the bridge to reach the island.
The specs of the project also call for replacing traffic signals to improve vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle operation and safety through the busy intersection, as well as installing better lighting at the pedestrian crosswalks. The intersection is known as a dangerous spot for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike. A Holy Cross rowing student was killed in a horrific 2020 accident that also injured 15 other people, a crash that triggered multiple lawsuits.
In the first phase of the reconstruction, the existing curbs and gutters of the southeast corner of the intersection will be removed to make way for the extended turn lane. The following Phase 2 will then add the new extended turn lane onto the eastbound bridge span.