WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The new Southern Boulevard Bridge linking Palm Beach to West Palm Beach will reopen to vehicular and pedestrian traffic Thursday, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.
The bridge, originally built in 1950, has been under construction for the past five years.
The Southern Boulevard Bridges Replacement Project, which began in April 2017, aimed to replace the SR 80/Southern Boulevard bridges over the Intracoastal Waterway and Lake Worth Lagoon between West Palm Beach and Palm Beach.
According to FDOT, the new bridges will each carry one lane of traffic in each direction, have 6-foot-wide sidewalks in each direction, and 10-foot-wide paved shoulders with 7-foot-wide bike lanes.
Due to some more construction in the area, Flagler Drive, between Southern Boulevard and Monroe Drive, will be closed from Aug. 31 through the end of 2022.
FDOT said crews will be working on shifting traffic to the new bascule bridge and on the demolition of the temporary bridge. New drainage will also be installed on Flagler Drive, north of Southern Boulevard.
Traffic will be detoured as follow:
Motorists traveling north on Flagler Drive should go west on Southern Boulevard to Washington Road; go north on Washington Road to Monroe Drive and go east on Monroe Drive to Flagler Drive.
Motorists traveling south on Flagler Drive should go west on Monroe Drive to Washington Road; go south on Washington Road to Southern Boulevard and go east on Southern Boulevard to Flagler Drive.
