Roosevelt Bridge partially reopens to traffic on one side of bridge; business owners hopeful it brings back customers
Corey Arwood
MARTIN COUNTY — The Roosevelt Bridge partially reopened Saturday after 10 days closed to inspections and repairs when cracks were found and concrete was seen falling from the bridge earlier this month.
On June 17, police closed both sides of the six-lane bridge ahead of Florida Department of Transportation inspections that found the bridge support was ruptured because of severe corrosion, with the southbound lanes having the majority of the damage.
Highway officials are reportedly testing bridge materials at labs in Gainesville, and said the corrosion in the southbound bridge lanes was not found in the northbound side.
After minor repairs, it was opened Saturday to four lanes of traffic with two lanes each reserved for north and southbound travel.
Restricted travel across the 23-year-old bridge over the St. Lucie River began at 9 a.m., as police allowed passenger vehicles at reduced speeds across its typically northbound lanes.
Stuart police and state troopers were positioned north and south of the bridge directing traffic and checking speeds.
Around 12:30 p.m., a police official said the partial reopening had gone smoothly.
Local business owners were relieved and hopeful by the reopening.
"I love the traffic," said Giacomo Giambanco while pointing to the vehicles streaming across the bridge in view of Uncle Giuseppe's Pizzeria at the northeast base of the bridge off U.S. 1, also called Northeast Federal Highway.
Giambanco said he estimated that COVID-19 took 25% of his business, and the Roosevelt Bridge closure took another 25% and complicated routes for delivery drivers.
On the south side of the bridge on the east side of U.S. 1, Ester Bacaris, co-owner of Master & Tailor Dry Cleaner, said she chose the south base of the bridge to open in February just for the traffic and visibility it provided.
"This was a ghost town for the entire week," said Bacaris, who, like Giambanco, said the bridge closure delivered a second blow to her business amid the growing pandemic.
She said some of her customers called and canceled pick ups because of the closure.
She said she's happy she won't have to take a detour on Kanner Highway to her home in Port St. Lucie, but she's still skeptical about what lies ahead for her business.
"What else?" Bacaris said.
Shabby to Chic Beauty Boutique co-owner Janis Rosenberg said, "We definitely had clients cancel because of dealing with the bridge."
Previous coverage:Plans underway to temporarily re-configure Dixie Hwy and US-1 north and south of the bridge
And:Northbound Roosevelt Bridge could open as early as next week, southbound expected to remain closed
After closing for nearly two months with state coronavirus regulations, Rosenberg said she opened with new store hours to accommodate social distancing standards.
When the bridge closed June 17, she said she had to lessen those hours even further to avoid rush hour traffic on detours around the bridge.
Rosenberg said her business had been on Southwest Dixie Highway and Southwest Albany Bridge Plaza Avenue Salon for six years.
Portions of nearby Flagler Park remained closed along with western walkways of the City of Stuart's Healthy trail boardwalk, that passes under the bridge.
Detective Sgt. Michael Gerwan, stationed just east, said he'd sat in his patrol car at Northwest Dixie Highway since 7 a.m., alerting commuters to the closure of the road that passed under the bridge and where the majority of the work to the bridge was underway Saturday.
Gerwan said larger vehicles, like trucks towing trailers with boats, motor homes, tractor trailers, box trucks and large tow trucks were temporarily prohibited from travelling across the bridge.
Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Corey on Twitter @coreyarwood, or reach him by phone at 772-978-2246.
Archive:FIGG inspected Roosevelt Bridge and designed collapsed FIU bridge
