BARTOW, Fla. – The Florida Department of Transportation Asset Maintenance Contractors have been mobilized and in route to make emergency deck repairs to the LaBelle Draw Bridge which runs on State Road 29 over the Caloosahatchee River.

Drivers can expect minor delays. The crew will manage traffic using a flagging operation. They will reduce the use of two lanes down to one lane. Drivers headed in both directions, north and southbound, will share the one lane intermittently for safe passage. The closed lane will be occupied by the contractors. Completion of the repairs is fluid. Notification will be sent when the job is done.

Drivers looking for an alternate route, can head west to the City of Alva on State Road 80(southside) or State Road 78 (northside). This is a 13-mile detour.

The work will not impede boaters and vessels from passing under the bridge freely. The drawbridge will remain operable during repairs.