ORLANDO, Fla. — State Road 50 at Interstate 4 in Orlando reopened Tuesday after days of work to repair cracks in the highway's bridge.
- Colonial Drive closed at Interstate 4 in downtown Orlando
- I-4 bridge was found to have cracks in it
- FDOT put temporary fix in place
- RELATED: Colonial Drive closed at I-4 in Orlando due to bridge work
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The bridge is at the intersection of Colonial Drive and Hughey Avenue underneath I-4 in downtown Orlando.
The Florida Department of Transportation hoped to open Colonial Drive, also known as State Road 50, sometime Tuesday morning.
But the bridge did not reopen until Tuesday evening.
The bridge is part of the "I-4 Ultimate" project. Before it was opened to traffic, engineers noticed cracks in the bridge during a recent inspection.
FDOT said the bridge is structurally sound, but crews wanted to take extra precautions, so they are instituting a temporary fix.
The repair work caused major delays Monday, but motorists said they would rather deal with traffic than see another tragedy like the pedestrian bridge collapse that happened at Florida International University in South Florida.
"For me, I don't care about the traffic; close it. Trust me, if they don't finish with that, close it. We don't want more people dying," Mamagalia Torres said.
FDOT hopes the temporary fix will alleviate some of the stress placed on the infrastructure, which caused it to begin cracking.
FDOT crews are working on a permanent fix to prevent any more cracks in the bridge. When that happens Colonial Drive will have to be closed again.