Is the 17th Street bridge repair project finally nearing completion? It is hard to tell for sure, but the answer seems to be yes, though without a specific date. Begun in 1977 and completed in 1979, the Vero bridge was nearing the end of its projected life when problems were detected. The structure was found to be in critical condition in 2018 and deemed structurally deficient in 2020. Since then, a series of repair projects have made the bridge a mess for nearly six years, off and on, but mostly on. Islanders had a moment of hope in July when Florida Department of Transportation opened all the lanes on the bridge for the first time in years. It was a fun and breezy sensation to cruise over the uncluttered span on the holiday weekend, but then orange barrels reappeared and bewildered commuters settled back into all-too-familiar single-lane traffic patterns. Since then the orange barrels have disappeared and reappeared a number of times, baffling island drivers and prompting letters to this newspaper expressing frustration and confusion about prolonged construction. All the barrels and traffic barricades on the western end of the bridge were gone again last weekend, with just a few barrels left at the eastern end. So, is this it? Are we actually at the end, almost, maybe? FDOT officials say we are close but can’t give a date certain, saying that the project will be complete “by the end of summer.” But they haven’t said what they mean by that phrase. For school kids, summer ends this week, when they trudge back to their classrooms across the county. Meanwhile, meteorologists divide the seasons up according to weather rhythms and the Gregorian calendar, splitting the year into four quarters, with summer ending on Aug. 31, according to the Royal Meteorological Society. Labor Day, which comes a week later, on Sept. 7, is another traditional marker for the end of summer, but astronomical summer will continue until the autumnal equinox on Sept. 22, the day the sun crosses the celestial equator. So which summer is FDOT talking about!? Hard-pressed, Samantha Kayser, FDOT’s Community Outreach Specialist for our area, would only say that as of Aug. 1, the project is approximately 98 percent complete. In an email to Vero Beach 32963, she added that drivers can expect single-lane closures, as needed, during the remaining days of construction – however long those extend. The reason the orange safety barrels have been disappearing and reappearing lately is because thermoplastic pavement markings are placed at night when traffic is lighter and temperatures are lower, Kayser said. When that work is underway, the work area must be protected with rows of reflective barrels, which are then removed during the daytime hours in areas where the contractor is not actively working, she said. Progress has been slower than anticipated because thunderstorms have hampered pavement marking installation on several occasions, Kayser said. The first, relatively minor repair job on the eastern end of the bridge began in November 2020, during the pandemic, and lasted well into the following year. During that phase, FDOT contractors and inspectors discovered much more extensive damage than they first identified, including crumbling concrete and rusted metal connectors. Those discoveries led to a $24.3 million project to completely replace and resurface the eastern 400 feet of the bridge. That repair job, which began on Sept. 5, 2023, continues today. The projected timeline for the project has proved elastic. Initially, the work was estimated to take just 18 months, ending in summer of 2025. But as plans progressed, the finish date was pushed back to summer of 2028. The picture improved in July 2025, when FDOT announced that, thanks to a stretch of good weather and, more importantly, no hurricane activity in the area the previous year, the project would finish up in early 2027. This completion date was moved up again in January to the current, ambiguous end of summer date. The project suffered a minor setback almost immediately after the latest completion date was announced when work on the deck was paused for five weeks because contractors damaged a 48-inch drainage pipe that discharges rainwater from the bridge and roadway into a nearby canal that empties into the Indian River Lagoon. FDOT accepted responsibility for the damage and absorbed the cost of the repair and said it could fix the pipe and still complete the project “by the end of summer.” As of now, work continues, but the end does seem to be in sight. <em>Photos by Joshua Kodis</em> [gallery ids="235300,235301,235302,235303"]