The Andrews Avenue Drawbridge in downtown Fort Lauderdale has closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic for a month of renovations.
City of Fort Lauderdale Instagram
South Florida, get ready for another traffic headache.
The Andrews Avenue Drawbridge in downtown Fort Lauderdale has closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic for a month of renovations.
The bridge’s complete closure comes about two months later than its original plan of July 8 to Aug. 6, according to the Sun Sentinel. One southbound and northbound lane on the bridge has already been closed since May 30.
The closures are part of an $8.8 million rehabilitation project to make the 38-year-old bridge, which spans the New River between Las Olas Boulevard and South Fifth Street, “storm resistant, more reliable and quieter,” according to Broward County’s Highway and Bridge Maintenance Division.
The bridge is scheduled to reopen on Oct. 8. The two lanes that have been closed since May 30 will reopen in March 2020, when the project is expected to be completed.
Drivers are asked to use the Southeast Third Avenue Drawbridge as an alternative. The closure should have a minimal impact on boaters, according to the department’s website.
Starting Monday, the Andrews Avenue Drawbridge in downtown Fort Lauderdale is closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic until Oct. 8. Drivers are asked to use the Southeast Third Avenue Drawbridge as an alternative. Broward County's Highway and Bridge Maintenance Division
This story was originally published September 9, 2019 at 4:05 PM.
Michelle Marchante covers the pulse of healthcare in South Florida and also the City of Coral Gables. Before that, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, crime, education, entertainment and other topics in South Florida for the Herald as a breaking news reporter. She recently won first place in the health reporting category in the 2025 Sunshine State Awards for her coverage of Steward Health’s bankruptcy. An investigative series about the abrupt closure of a Miami heart transplant program led Michelle and her colleagues to be recognized as finalists in two 2024 Florida Sunshine State Award categories. She also won second place in the 73rd annual Green Eyeshade Awards for her consumer-focused healthcare stories and was part of the team of reporters who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for the Miami Herald’s breaking news coverage of the Surfside building collapse. Michelle graduated with honors from Florida International University and was a 2025 National Press Foundation Covering Workplace Mental Health fellow and a 2020-2021 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism fellow. Support my work with a digital subscription
