The first two days of the week-long total closure of the 17th Street Bridge went about as expected – with long lines on the alternate route between the island and the mainland of Vero Beach, the Merrill P. Barber Bridge and its approaches.
Motorists traveling between the island and the mainland found out that it took them about twice as long as normal to reach their destinations as all traffic that normally takes the 17th Street Bridge, about 20,000 vehicles per day and perhaps more in season – was detoured and rerouted to the Barber bridge.
The Vero Beach Police Department warned motorists about delays and said it had officers out on Indian River Boulevard Tuesday to help direct the heavy flow of traffic onto and off the Barber Bridge. Police said traffic was also heavy on Royal Palm Boulevard, the first opportunity to get off Indian River Boulevard after exiting the bridge.
Police even suggested motorists might want to try the Wabasso Bridge nine miles to the north or the Fort Pierce Bridge 15 miles to the south as alternatives to the heavily congested Barber bridge.
The closure of the 17th Street Bridge is scheduled to last the entire week and the same traffic conditions are expected to prevail for the rest of the week, so motorists will be well advised to leave early for any trip that involves crossing the Barber bridge in either direction.
On Monday morning lasting through mid-day, Beachland Boulevard was backed up for its entire length from the foot of the Barber Bridge until the traffic light at State Road A1A with traffic trying to turn either North or South on A1A. In the afternoon, the entire length of the Barber Bridge was backed up in the westbound lanes with traffic trying to get off the island onto the mainland.
Motorists may have shown their impatience, but no accidents have been reported so far with only minimal horn-honking. Warning signs had been posted around the bridge for weeks about the impending closure.
When the 17th Street bridge reopens next week, the two lanes of traffic, one in each direction, will have been rerouted from the southernmost part of the bridge to the northern lanes, where a section of the bridge near the beachside had to be totally rebuilt due to crumbling concrete and rusted metal bars.
The 17th Street bridge project is not even halfway through its five-year duration.
Meanwhile, after the 17th Street Bridge reopens for two lanes of traffic, after the holidays, starting on Jan. 6, 2025, another construction project will start on the Barber bridge to extend turn lanes and improve safety for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians at the intersection with Indian River Boulevard. That project, scheduled to last until the fall of 2025, will involve occasional nighttime lane closures.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
