Sun Sentinel Broward Edition

Traffic jams ahead as bridges fixed

- — Michael Turnbell

South Florida’s crumbling bridges will be taking a toll on traffic over the next few years as officials gear up to either fix or replace them.

Drivers are most likely to be affected by work on the 66-year-old Broward Boulevard bridge just east of Interstate 95, the 65-year-old Southern Boulevard bridge over the Intracoast­al Waterway in West Palm Beach, and the Venetian Causeway, a series of bridges built in 1926 linking Miami and Miami Beach.

There are two dozen South Florida bridges that need to be replaced or undergo major repairs, and officials stress that none are in danger of collapsing. Work is already underway on some of them and only one small bridge in Coconut Creek is closed with no plans to reopen or rebuild it, state inspectors say.

More than two dozen South Florida bridges need to be replaced or undergo major repair. In order to prepare for the traffic headaches, here’s a primer on what you can expect the next few years:

Here’s a primer on what you can expect the next few years:

Broward

A good chunk of Broward’s deficient bridges are in Fort Lauderdale’s coastal neighborho­ods. At least six are in the process of being rebuilt.

But there’s a whopper that will affect commuters heading into downtown Fort Lauderdale starting next year. The Broward Boulevard bridge over the North Fork of the New River, just east of I-95, is actually made up of two spans. But it’s the span carrying the eastbound side, built in 1949, that’s considered structural­ly deficient because its piers and foundation­s have deteriorat­ed.

Both spans will be rebuilt starting in 2016.

The new bridge will be four feet higher than the existing bridge. Besides providing an architectu­ral statement, the higher bridge will allow somewhat taller boats north of Broward to get through and provide a pathway underneath to let pedestrian­s and bikers cross from one side of the road to the other without having to dart in and out of traffic.

To keep traffic moving during constructi­on, officials plan to build a temporary bridge to the north while the existing one is demolished and rebuilt. Three lanes of traffic will remain open in each direction. But the temporary bridge will introduce a “jog” in what would otherwise be a straight shot for commuters between I-95 and downtown. The Sunrise Boulevard bridge is being rebuilt over the Middle River and a temporary bridge is handling westbound traffic, but with only two lanes instead of the normal three. The reduction in lanes has led to huge backups at times because Sunrise is a gateway to the Galleria shopping center and the only route in Fort Lauderdale that runs from I-95 all the way to the beach.

Built in the 1950s and widened twice, the span has suffered from years of exposure to salt water and spray from passing watercraft.

When completed in early 2016, it will have 3.8 feet more vertical clearance than the existing bridge, which stands at 6 feet, 5 inches. The higher bridger will make it easier for larger boats to navigate underneath.

It will include 6-foot-wide sidewalks on both sides, but no bike lanes. The sidewalk along westbound Sunrise Boulevard approachin­g the bridge will be 10 feet wide.

Other improvemen­ts include a decorative wave wall on the north side of Sunrise Boulevard approachin­g the bridge from Middle River Drive. A smaller decorative wall will be built on the south side but won’t extend as far east because the state doesn’t own the land.

The other bridges affected are: Sunrise Key at Karen Canal. Constructi­on underway. Completion in fall 2015. Northeast First Street at Stranahan Lake. The state is awaiting a report on constructi­on plans from Fort Lauderdale. Isle of Venice at Las Olas Canal. Constructi­on starts in summer 2015. Completion in early 2016. Fiesta Way at Las Olas Canal. Constructi­on underway. Completion in summer 2015. Nurmi Drive at Las Olas Canal. Constructi­on underway. Completion in summer 2015. Royal Palm Way at Las Olas Canal. Constructi­on starts in summer 2015. Completion in early 2016. Bayview Drive over Longboat Inlet in Fort Lauderdale. Constructi­on starts in 2018. Northeast 23rd Avenue over Ibis Waterway in Lighthouse Point. Constructi­on starts in 2018. Coconut Creek Boulevard over Coconut Creek Canal. Bridge closed with no plan to reopen.

Palm Beach County

Southern Boulevard will get a temporary bridge to handle traffic before the current span over the Intracoast­al Waterway in West Palm Beach is demolished and replaced, with work beginning in the summer of 2016. It’ll take about a year to build the temporary bridge.

Previous plans called for allowing traffic to continue using the old bridge until the replacemen­t was completed. The same approach was used for the Flagler Memorial Bridge, but work on the temporary bridge caused the old bridge to sink, requiring a series of closures and traffic chaos.

The new Southern bridge will take two years to build.

Constructi­on on the Flagler Memorial Bridge carrying State Road A1A between West Palm Beach and Palm Beach is scheduled to wrap up in the summer of 2016 as the Southern Boulevard work begins. The Camino Real bridge in Boca Raton will undergo a $6 million rehabilita­tion starting in the last half of 2016. The work will take a year, but the bridge should be closed to vehicles, bikes and pedestrian­s only for about nine months.

During the closure, commuters will have to use the Palmetto Park Road bridge to the north or the Hillsboro Boulevard bridge to the south.

The drawbridge, built in 1939, is on the county’s Registry of Historic Places. It also is eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which prevents if from being rebuilt.

The refurbishe­d bridge will have two 11-foot travel lanes with 1.5-foot shoulders on both sides and new traffic railings. Sidewalks will be expanded from 5.9 feet to 6 feet on each side. The bridgetend­er house will be relocated to the northeast corner for better operator visibility.

The existing bridge has 10-foot travel lanes with no shoulders.

“With the historic designatio­n there are limits on what we can do,” said Kristine Frazell-Smith, a county engineer.

The other affected bridges are: U.S. 1 at Intracoast­al Waterway in Jupiter. Major repairs start in 2016. Southern Boulevard at Lake Worth Tide Relief. Constructi­on starts in summer 2016.

Miami-Dade County

The historic Venetian Causeway, the oldest in Florida, is in store for a complete makeover.

The state last year began to look at overhaulin­g the 12 spans that make up the causeway. Miami-Dade County, which owns the causeway, is working on a separate $10 million project to replace the westernmos­t stretch first.

The causeway’s poor condition became magnified last year when a bus partially fell through a hole on the westernmos­t drawbridge.

The county’s project, set to start in June, should last nine months. The state’s study won’t be completed until 2017.

During the upcoming closure, the only alternativ­es for traffic will be the Julia Tuttle or MacArthur causeways.

The other affected bridges are: Southwest First Street at Miami River. Constructi­on starts in September 2018. North Miami Avenue at Little River Canal. Not yet scheduled for constructi­on. South Miami Avenue at Miami River. Constructi­on underway. Completion in late 2015. Broad Causeway at Intracoast­al Waterway. Constructi­on underway. Completion in 2016. Alhambra Circle at Coral Gables Canal. Constructi­on underway. Completion this month. Lugo Avenue at Coral Bay. Constructi­on underway. Completion in June 2015. Northwest 34th Avenue at Comfort Canal. Constructi­on starts in June 2018.

Inspection­s

Bridges take a daily beating from traffic, weather and the salt in air.

All bridges are inspected at least once every two years. Drawbridge­s are checked annually. Bridges with defects are checked yearly and in some cases, every six months.

Of the state’s 12,070 bridges, two percent have problems with beams or pilings, erosion, or drawbridge rmachinery.

Florida ranks 42 out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for the number of structural­ly deficient bridges.

Hundreds of other bridges are “functional­ly obsolete,” meaning they don’t mean current design standards for clearance or they’re not wide enough to handle current traffic volumes. mturnbell@tribpub.com, 954-356-4155, Twitter @MikeTurnpi­ke, Facebook at SunSentine­l.com/ concreteid­eas

 ?? TAIMY ALVAREZ/STAFF PHOTOGRAPH­ER ??
TAIMY ALVAREZ/STAFF PHOTOGRAPH­ER
 ?? CARLINE JEAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPH­ER ?? Traffic moves over the 66-year-old Broward Boulevard bridge, which crosses the North Fork of the New River just east of Interstate 95 in Fort Lauderdale. Both spans of the bridge will be rebuilt starting in 2016.
CARLINE JEAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPH­ER Traffic moves over the 66-year-old Broward Boulevard bridge, which crosses the North Fork of the New River just east of Interstate 95 in Fort Lauderdale. Both spans of the bridge will be rebuilt starting in 2016.

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