TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — As residents in north Florida and south Georgia began assessing the damage left behind by Hurricane Irma, officials in both states briefly considered closing one of the nation’s busiest interstate highways as a swollen river threatened to engulf a small bridge near Gainesville, Florida.

However, with flood waters on the Santa Fe River receding, the Florida Department of Transportation announced Thursday morning that its engineers and state meteorologists did not believe the river would reach levels that would make the interstate unsafe.

The river had risen 15 feet within 36 hours as heavy rainfall from Irma pelted the area. However, the river remained at a safe level of 55 feet late Wednesday, officials said.

Even under normal conditions, I-75 in northern Florida is an especially busy stretch on one of the nation’s busiest highways. According to FDOT, overall traffic volumes reach between 60,000 and 80,000 vehicles per day along an 80-mile stretch from Gainesville to Jasper, near the Georgia border.

While I-75 will remain open, high river waters have closed two other bridges.

FDOT closed the bridge across the Santa Fe on U.S. Highway 27 and U.S. 41 near High Springs on Wednesday evening.

U.S. 27 northbound traffic to Lake City is being rerouted in High Springs and U.S. 27 southbound traffic to Gainesville is detouring on State Road 47 in Fort White.

On U.S. 41, southbound traffic to Gainesville is detouring at County Road 778 while northbound traffic is being detoured at the Winn-Dixie in High Springs.

Details for this story were reported by the Valdosta, Georgia Daily Times and the Suwannee, Georgia Democrat.