Richard Marion

S.R. 29 LaBelle Drawbridge to Close for Two Consecutive Weekends for Temporary Repairs; 53-Mile Truck Detour Required

LABELLE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District One will implement a temporary full closure of the LaBelle Drawbridge carrying S.R. 29 (locally known as Bridge Street) over the Caloosahatchee River in Hendry County to perform urgent repairs to the bridge.

These urgent repairs are required to ensure the long-term safety of the traveling public. Additional repairs will be necessary in the future. 

To minimize the impact on weekday commuters, the structural repairs will be completed over two consecutive weekends, from Friday through Sunday, for a total of six days of closures.

• The first weekend closure starts Friday, July 17^th and runs through Sunday, July 19^th. (Crews expect to have the bridge reopened before Monday morning rush hour.)
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• The second weekend closure starts Friday, July 24^th and runs through Sunday, July 26^th. (Crews expect to have the bridge reopened before Monday morning rush hour.)

Beginning Friday, July 17, a strict 17-ton weight limit will be enforced on the bridge. All vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of 17 tons or more are prohibited from crossing until repairs are complete and engineers certify its safe load capacity. In the meantime, commercial truck drivers exceeding this limit must utilize a 53-mile detour and should plan for significant extra travel time.

Again, beginning Friday, July 17^th, all vehicles with a total weight of 17 tons or more will not be permitted on the bridge until repairs are complete and engineers certify its safe load capacity.

Vehicles less than 17 tons will have access to the bridge between closures and after the work is done.

S.R. 29 through LaBelle serves as a vital regional corridor, moving an average of 17,300 vehicles per day. Commercial trucks account for 18 percent of this daily volume, consisting of heavy-duty transport such as semi-trailers, double-trailers, agricultural-haulers moving cattle and produce, and heavy dump trucks. This intense concentration of heavy-tonnage routing has placed tremendous stress and cyclic loading on the bridge’s bearing stiffeners, resulting in structural fatigue that requires immediate, proactive intervention.

To safely restore the structure to fully operational health, specialized crews must isolate the bridge from all traffic loads to execute critical engineering repairs. Due to the precision nature of these steel repairs, the bridge cannot accommodate moving traffic while work is underway.

FDOT has established two designated detour routes to safely redirect traffic during the closure periods:

DETOUR ROUTES

MAP 1 – Regional Detour (All Commercial Trucks & Heavy Vehicles)

Due to weight limits of 17-tons or more and turning constraints on local roads, all commercial trucks and heavy vehicles must utilize the 53-mile regional detour via state roadways:

• Northbound (From South of LaBelle to Palmdale):
• From S.R. 29, head east on S.R. 80 to U.S. 27
• Head north on U.S. 27 to S.R. 78
• Head west on S.R. 78 to return to S.R. 29
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• Southbound (From Palmdale to South of LaBelle):
• From S.R. 29, head east on S.R. 78 to U.S. 27
• Head south on U.S. 27 to S.R. 80
• Head west on S.R. 80 to return to S.R. 29

MAP 2 – Local Traffic Detour (Passenger Vehicles Only — NO TRUCKS)

Local passenger car traffic may utilize Fort Denaud Road as a localized bypass. Trucks are strictly prohibited from this route.

• Northbound (From South of LaBelle to North of LaBelle):
• From S.R. 29, head west on S.R. 80 to Fort Denaud Road
• Follow Fort Denaud Road to Fort Denaud Bridge Road
• Head north across the river on Fort Denaud Bridge Road to C.R. 78
• Head east on C.R. 78 to return to S.R. 29
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• Southbound (From North of LaBelle to South of LaBelle):
• From S.R. 29, head west on C.R. 78 to Fort Denaud Bridge Road
• Head south across the river on Fort Denaud Bridge Road to Fort Denaud Road
• Head east on Fort Denaud Road, which becomes Cowboy Way          (S.R. 80A), to S.R. 80
• Head east on S.R. 80 to return to S.R. 29

Law enforcement will be in full force on both sides of the bridge to observe commercial drivers and enforce the TRUCK ROUTE Detour. 

Traveler Advisory & Reminders

FDOT recognizes the critical role this bridge plays in regional agriculture and local commerce, and crews will be working expeditiously to complete these repairs safely and quickly.

All motorists are strongly urged to plan alternate routes well in advance of the July closures, allow significant extra travel time, and utilize regional navigation tools like FL511.com, mobile mapping applications, or GPS devices to monitor real-time traffic conditions. All scheduled work is weather permitting.