If you don’t have to go to Fort Lauderdale beach, don’t. At least not until Spring Break ends.
A throng of beautiful young people, flashing the latest swimwear, waiting for Uber and Lyft, are distracting drivers and snarling traffic.
“Drivers checking out the crowd are slowing traffic down,” said Casey Liening, a spokeswoman for Fort Lauderdale police. “Traffic is a major issue. … Ride-sharing use seems to be up.”
Police are asking drivers to avoid State Road A1A when dropping off or picking up friends. Anyone who stops and blocks the road — and that means you, Uber and Lyft — could be ticketed.
East Las Olas Boulevard and East Sunrise Boulevard often are backed up, too, as drivers travel to the seaside.
Spring Break, which began March 1 and ends April 7, likely will run its course before authorities tally arrest statistics.
About 20 extra patrol officers, motorcycle officers and the mounted unit are working at the beach each day while the college kids are in town. So far, the majority of arrests involve narcotics, and most of the tickets have been written for drivers who obstruct traffic or don’t wear seat belts, Liening said.
Users of e-scooters seem to have heard about the city’s temporary ban on riding them at the beach and are keeping to the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway.
“For the most part, scooters are staying off the barrier island,” Liening said.
Pedestrians are being kept behind barriers that keep them on the sidewalks, and public safety aides are supervising crossings at street corners, according to police.
“We don’t have any jaywalking, and I don’t believe it’s been an issue,” Liening said.
Each week, the crowd changes and new arrivals pick where they want to hang out.
The latest hot spot seems to be just north of East Las Olas Boulevard, opposite the Rock Bar, Liening said.
For drivers who want to avoid getting tickets, the city does not have a designated passenger drop-off area on the barrier island. But if motorists pick up or drop off friends or fares on side streets, police will not issue citations, Liening said.
Drivers who turn north off East Las Olas Boulevard to get their friends to that section of the beach will want to avoid stopping because it’s where the police department’s command center is set up, and nearby Poinsettia Street and Cortez Street are blocked to traffic.
Liening said motorists instead should stop along Almond Avenue, which is off East Las Olas Boulevard and west of A1A. Castillo Street and other side streets to the north, are also good for dropping riders off, she said.
“If you don’t have official business or need to be [at the beach], don’t be there,” Liening said.
With 14 days marked off the spring break calendar and about 23 more to go, if the sun keeps shining on Fort Lauderdale, the kids are likely to keep on coming.
ljtrischitta@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4233 or Twitter @LindaTrischitta