Island residents returning from a late dinner or other activities on the mainland next week should be aware that the 17th Street Bridge will be subject to nighttime closures all week to help crews keep up with an accelerated schedule to finish the reconstruction project.
Signs went up at both oceanside and landside approaches to the bridge, officially known as the Alma Lee Loy bridge, warning motorists of the impending closure of the entre bridge between the hours of 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. Monday through Friday of next week.
The alternate route connecting the island to the mainland is the Merrill P. Barber Bridge further north across the Indian River Lagoon. Fortunately, a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) road improvement project on that bridge to widen turn lanes, which was supposed to have lasted into the fall of this year, appears to be almost finished ahead of schedule and traffic is flowing normally across that bridge.
FDOT did not immediately respond to questions about the reason for the full 17th Street Bridge closure next week, but crews from the Vecellio bridge construction company headquartered in West Palm Beach appear to be just about ready to install the new pavement on the eastbound lanes, the southern portion of the bridge, close to the shore of the island.
That’s where an entire 400-foot section of the bridge had to be replaced due to crumbling concrete and rusted metal connections.
The rehabilitation project, which started in September 2023, was supposed to last almost five years until the summer of 2028, but local authorities have said they hoped the work could be finished about a year early. Construction crews have been lucky with the weather, losing no days to bad weather conditions even during normal hurricane seasons.
Most of the time the 17th Street Bridge has been open to traffic with one lane available to motorists going to and from the island, with occasional additional lane closures at night during critical phases of the construction project.
Photos by Christine Matus
