LABELLE, Fla. — People in LaBelle woke up Thursday to a traffic nightmare because the State Road 29 drawbridge was shut down without warning, cutting off the only direct route into town from the north and throwing morning routines into chaos.
Senior reporter Emily Young speaks with neighbors impacted by the bridge's closure:
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) closed the LaBelle Drawbridge late Wednesday night after crews, during routine maintenance, discovered an area of concern on a single steel plate beneath the bridge. Out of what FDOT called “an abundance of caution,” traffic was stopped immediately while emergency repairs began.
With the bridge closed, drivers heading into LaBelle from the north had few alternatives. FDOT’s official detour sent drivers down US 27 and State Road 78, adding more than 54 miles to what is normally a quick, straightforward trip.
For Jeff Lauer, the surprise shutdown meant scrambling for solutions.
“I can get over on another bridge about 10 miles from here, but I might not make it — it might be too skinny to get my boat through,” he said. He added that he wished he had known about the closure earlier: “I would’ve never come here today.”
The impact wasn’t limited to commuters. The Hendry County School District confirmed that 10 bus routes rely on the drawbridge every morning, and some buses arrived more than an hour behind schedule.
Susan, who needed to cross the bridge for essentials like groceries and errands, described the frustration of being forced into the lengthy detour: “I thought the bridge was open! Nope! Had to turn around and go all the way down that way — and now I have to go home that way.”
People who live north of the river were shut off from everything they rely on in town — groceries, gas stations, and basic services. Henry DeMichael said the traffic backup was relentless: “Traffic was so bad we were backed up for almost an hour… at least a seven-mile detour.”
