VERO BEACH, Fla. — A major road closure is coming to the 17th Street Bridge in Vero Beach, shutting down all lanes for nearly a week and prompting concerns about traffic backups.
WATCH BELOW: 'We rely on it every day to get back and forth,' Kate Simpson tells WPTV's Cassandra Garcia
The closure begins Sunday, April 12, at 10:30 p.m. and will remain in effect through 5 a.m. on Friday, April 17. The shutdown will allow crews to shift traffic on the eastbound and westbound bridges as part of an ongoing Florida Department of Transportation project to rehabilitate the bridge.
The 17th Street Bridge is one of only two bridges in Vero Beach connecting the island to the mainland. The other option is the Merrill P. Barber Bridge just to the north.
A detour is less than ideal for those who work or live on the island.
"We rely on it every day to get back and forth over to the mainland," Kate Simpson said. "We’re all going to have to go down to the other bridge to get anywhere and so I imagine that there’s going to be a huge backup and bottleneck."
Simpson noted residents have adapted to the ongoing work that started on August 28th, 2023.
"We’ve gotten used to it now with one lane each way. They’ve been able to make it work," Simpson said.
However, a full week-long closure presents new challenges for drivers.
"There’s been closures before for a couple days here and there and it’s always been a nightmare," Bob Reeves said. "I mean right now with the winter traffic, A1A gets backed up anyways, even without the closure."
The FDOT project is an effort to enhance safety and long-term resiliency. Reeves said the improvements were needed despite the inconvenience.
"We used to walk the bridge all the time when it was closed originally, you could see cracks going up the bridge," Reeves said. "Nothing you can do, except just try to plan how long it’s going to take."
To learn more about FDOT's 17th Street Bridge Rehabilitation and Improvements Project click here.
Portions of this story were assisted by artificial intelligence tools and reviewed by a WPTV journalists to ensure accuracy, clarity, and adherence to editorial standards.
