STUART — While the Roosevelt Bridge is closed for vehicle traffic after a crack and falling concrete were discovered this week, rescue and police first responders are allowed to use a portion of the bridge for emergency calls, officials said Thursday.
Officials Wednesday afternoon said the entire bridge — six lanes of traffic carrying thousands of U.S. 1 motorists daily across the St. Lucie River — would be closed for an unknown length of time, a move that has created significant traffic problems.
The total closure came after northbound and southbound traffic, one lane in either direction, was re-routed to the northbound span.
Stuart Fire Chief Vincent Felicione on Thursday said they got a “provisional agreement” for emergency vehicles to use the northbound span for emergency call response. Both Stuart fire stations are south of the bridge, as are both of the main hospitals.
“That changes everything,” Felicione said. “It almost takes us back to like a status quo, so that’s really good news.”
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Bethany Alex, spokeswoman for Martin County Fire Rescue, said they got written communication from the Florida Department of Transportation allowing emergency vehicles to use the northbound lanes of the bridge.
Martin County Fire Rescue has two stations north of the Roosevelt Bridge, one on Northeast Savannah Road and one on Northwest Britt Road.
“When everything was completely shut down yesterday (Wednesday) it got pretty challenging in terms of trying to plan, trying to have a plan here for responses north of the bridge for us,” Felicione said.
FDOT refuses to answer questions about Roosevelt Bridge
Meanwhile, officials with the state Department of Transportation, who were at the bridge Thursday morning, declined to answer questions.
In a social media post Thursday, the FDOT stated it had “completed the interior visual and sounding inspection of the NB and SB portions of the Roosevelt Bridge. We are currently in the process of analyzing the results and completing a full structural review. Further updates will be provided when available.
"Testing will include carefully drilling into the concrete to examine the steel tendons supporting the bridge to see if there is corrosion."
Additionally, State Road A1A and the nearby old Roosevelt Bridge, a lower drawspan, was closed for public safety in the event of falling debris.
State Road A1A is closed to all but local traffic between Albany Avenue and just south of Wright Boulevard, Police Chief Joseph Tumminelli said.
Tumminelli said 911 response times might take slightly longer.
“It’s basically uninterrupted, but the morning traffic and the afternoon traffic could cause a problem, which it did anyway even when the bridge was open,” he said.
Tumminelli said the northbound span being open for first responders helps.
“There’s really not a diminish in service for 911 calls,” he said.
Concrete fell and a crack was spotted on the southbound span of the new bridge on the south side of the St. Lucie River, not far from the popular Sailor’s Return restaurant.
State Rep. Toby Overdorf, R-Stuart, said at a Wednesday afternoon briefing they “do not have a timeline yet from DOT (state Department of Transportation) as to how long the bridge will, in fact, be closed down.”
“We do not have a timeline as to how long the repairs will take,” Overdorf said.
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State Department of Transportation officials were not at the media briefing, which was attended by two legislators, the mayor, Tumminelli, and a county commissioner.
Mayor Michael Meier said Tuesday night, as part of a “routine bridge inspection that occurs every two years with the Department of Transportation, a call was made to DOT that there was some falling concrete on the southbound bridge.”
Meier said state transportation officials began investigating and found “some rust in the steel cables that had been exposed once the concrete fell.”
“As of (Wednesday) morning, DOT and other national and federal partners have been investigating the northbound bridge to ensure that there is no damage similar to what is seen on the southbound bridge,” he said.
'Structural issues' found on northbound span of Roosevelt Bridge
Meier said “some structural issues” were found on the northbound span.
Alex said it is an “active investigation” and an “active scene.”
“We are still not fully aware of the impacts that this may have on our jurisdiction,” Alex said.
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Felicione said his agency has an agreement with Martin County Fire Rescue in which the latter covers some areas in the city’s jurisdiction north of the bridge.
He said that in 2019, Stuart Fire Rescue handled nearly 7,000 calls for service, estimating that about 500 of those calls were to locations north of the bridge.
Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. He also covers strange, wild and weird Treasure Coast crimes in “Off The Beat.” Follow Will on Twitter @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-692-8936. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com
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