The County Line Bridge Is Out Until Next Fall. Here's How Tequesta's Season Reroutes Around It.
October 22, 2026
October 22, 2026
"We're going to have a significant travel decrease up and down our roads," Tequesta resident Sally Phillips told WPTV in September, when a reporter asked whether the County Line Road bridge closure might have any upside. George May, who lives on the east side of the bridge, had a different number in mind. He told the station the closure would add about 20 minutes to his commute.
Both of them are right. Martin County scheduled the full closure of the South County Line Road Bridge for October 20, and the county expects the replacement to be finished in October 2027. For the next year, the Loxahatchee is something residents on either side drive around, not over. That changes where a Tuesday errand goes, and it also changes which parts of this fall's calendar are easy to reach.
The crossing is a 200-foot section of SE County Line Road between SE Girl Scout Camp Road and SE Island Drive, and it was built in 1974. According to WPTV, it got a poor grade from the Florida Department of Transportation. Martin County started setting money aside for the replacement in 2019, and the County Commission approved the construction contract this June. May told the station that he and his wife had kayaked under the bridge and seen the deterioration up close.
The project costs $7.4 million, the contractor is Cone & Graham, and $6 million of the money comes from state and federal General Appropriations Acts. "It is a $7 million project. Most of the funding, over $6 million, is coming from the federal government and the state," Martin County Public Works Deputy Director Marc Aveni told WPTV.
The reason to put up with a year of detours is what goes in its place. Compared with the structure that just closed:
| The 1974 bridge | The replacement | |
|---|---|---|
| Layout | Separate roadway and pedestrian structures | One combined structure |
| Travel lanes | Not specified by the county | 12-foot lanes with 6-foot shoulders |
| Walking | A pedestrian walkway | A 6-foot sidewalk |
| Alignment | Includes a curve | The curve is removed |
| Design life | About 52 years so far | At least 75 years, built with corrosion-inhibiting materials |
| Elevation | Original height | Built higher |
| Load rating | Current | Higher, so emergency vehicles can reach areas west of the Loxahatchee |
The last row matters most for the neighborhoods west of the river. WQCS reported that the higher load rating would let emergency services vehicles reach areas west of the Loxahatchee and possibly respond faster. "It will be much safer for both pedestrians and vehicles. It will take out this curve," Aveni told WPTV.
What the bridge kept connected, the closure now separates. WPTV reported that the shutdown would isolate neighborhoods on either side of the Loxahatchee River. To keep emergency coverage in place, Martin County Fire Rescue planned a temporary fire station on the west side of the bridge for the length of construction.
The closure covers everyone. WQCS reported that motorists, cyclists and pedestrians all have to follow detours, that detour signs started going up on October 6, and that the county is asking travelers to allow extra time. If you used to walk or bike across, that walkway is closed too. The county's detour map is posted on the Martin County project page, and it is the route to follow until the posted signs come down.
Some daily questions are still open, school bus routes among them. Families on either bank should get that answer from their school transportation office.
The trade Phillips described is just as real. With through-traffic gone from this stretch of County Line Road, the streets near the bridge lose a cut-through for a year. On the Tequesta side of the river, that makes a nearby calendar easier to use than a cross-river one.
The events below are dated, local, and mostly about the river that now splits the community. They are listed in order from this week, so anything that has already passed is left off. Riverbend Park programs need reservations, so book before you go.
Many of these are about the river itself. The Boating Safely class and Riverbend's farmstead day both treat the Loxahatchee as somewhere to spend a day. For the next 12 months it is also the line that decides which side of town is closer.
Full program details are on the Loxahatchee River Center calendar, the Palm Beach County parks pages for Riverbend, and Lighthouse ArtCenter's events listing.
Martin County's target for reopening is October 2027. What reopens will be a different crossing: a single structure with a real sidewalk, set higher than the old one, without the curve, and rated for heavier emergency vehicles headed west of the river. Project updates from the county will appear at martin.fl.us/county-line-bridge.
A year without a bridge changes which streets feel close and which feel far. If you're wondering how that plays out on your stretch of Tequesta or the neighborhoods across the river, Hughes Browne Group is glad to share what we're seeing on the ground. Start a Conversation.
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