Island residents returning home from the mainland after dinner next week should be aware that the 17th Street Bridge will be the subject of eastbound nighttime closure starting at 9 p.m. all week, while traffic turning onto the Barber Bridge – also under construction – is limited to just one lane.

Temporary signs have been put up at approaches to the 17th Street Bridge warning motorists Vero’s southern bridge would be closed to all eastbound traffic from Feb. 16 to Feb. 21 between the hours of 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.

At the same time, the western edge of the Merrill P. Barber Bridge at the intersection with Indian River Boulevard is still undergoing an improvement project which allows only one lane of traffic to turn onto the eastbound lanes of the bridge from either direction.

The 17th Street Bridge is in the middle of a four-year construction project which involves completely replacing a 400-foot section of the bridge at the eastern edge of the lagoon which had been deemed unsafe because of crumbling concrete and rusted metal connections.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) had said at the beginning of the project it would try to keep at least one lane of traffic open in each direction of the 17th Street Bridge, which serves mainly South Island residents, or resort to only nighttime closures.

Last month, however, the bridge was fully closed in both directions although the scheduled week-long closure, which caused huge backups on the Barber bridge, was in the end reduced to just three days.

The separate Barber Bridge project, which started Jan. 6 and will last until the fall of this year, involves lengthening the turn lane off Indian River Boulevard southbound onto the eastbound lanes of the bridge, but in the meantime, the eastbound ramps coming onto the bridge from the mainland have been reduced to one lane only.

While both construction projects are going on at the same time, FDOT has suggested using the Wabasso Bridge 5 miles to the north, or the Fort Pierce Inlet bridge on State Road A1A, 9 miles to the south, as possible alternative.

Ironically, the westbound portion of the Fort Pierce Inlet bridge is also undergoing a major reconstruction project, forcing motorists to take a detour to reach Highway U.S. 1.

All three bridge construction projects are being managed under FDOT supervision by different subsidiaries of the Vecellio Group of construction companies headquartered in West Palm Beach.

FDOT had earlier said that it would try to avoid overlaps between the construction projects on both bridges connecting the Vero Beach mainland to the island.

“The SR60/Indian River Boulevard Safety Improvements project team is working closely with the 17th Street East End of Bridge Rehabilitation and Improvements Project team to ensure that lane closures do not overlap during construction and that disruptions to the traveling public are minimized wherever possible,” said Samantha Kayser, the FDOT communications specialist for District 4.

There was no immediate explanation from FDOT why this overlap between the two construction projects was unavoidable.