Florida Turnpike reopens after Wednesday morning rush hour shut down
Emergency work on an overhead sign had the Florida Turnpike shut down in both directions between Southwest Eighth Street and State Road 836 (the Dolphin Expressway) throughout Wednesday morning’s rush hour.
Predictably, traffic was backed up for miles in each direction until after the 10:30 a.m. reopening.
A release from the Florida Department of Transportation said complications happened in taking out a sign structure that spanned all Turnpike lanes.
“Out of an abundance of caution and for the safety of our motorists, the closure was extended and a second larger crane was brought in to complete the operation,” the FDOT said.
The Florida Highway Patrol started sending all northbound turnpike traffic onto State Road 874, the Don Shula Expressway. The southbound traffic was backed up to about Northwest 74th Street. Surface streets, like Southwest 117th Avenue, also were jammed.
This story was originally published July 3, 2019 at 7:09 AM.