West Melbourne road reopens after aloe vera spill

J.D. Gallop | FLORIDA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Video: Aloe vera spill in West Melbourne Police shut down portions of a road after thousands of pounds of aloe vera spilled in West Melbourne. Video by West Melbourne Police Department. Posted Nov. 24, 2015.

Update, 4 p.m., Wednesday:

Eber Road between Hollywood Boulevard and Durham Drive has reopened, according to Brevard County EOC Communications Director Don Walker. Motorists in the area are limited to a 25 mph speed, he adds.

Walker also says the assessment of the asphalt is continuing in efforts to determine whether the road will need to be milled and resurfaced.

Original story:

It may be good for keeping the skin supple and healthy, but for roadways, not so much.

Just over a week after about 2,000 pounds of non-toxic aloe vera plant gel spilled onto a busy West Melbourne road, county engineers say that it may take a possible milling and repaving operation to fully repair the slick intersection. West Melbourne police also continue to monitor traffic patterns in the area.

“The road is still closed down,” said Capt. Richard Cordeau, spokesman for the West Melbourne Police Department.

County officials say a nearly half-mile segment of Eber Road near Hollywood Boulevard — one of the busiest thruways in West Melbourne — remains shut down due to the spill. Engineers are continuing their assessment, although no determination has been made to pursue the option of milling and repaving.

The crash happened Nov. 24 after the driver of a semitrailer told authorities that the load of aloe Vera he was carrying may have shifted and somehow punctured the container holding the slippery gel.

Aloe vera gel comes from the plant of the same name and has been used by everyone from the Greeks to Jamaicans as a vitamin and mineral-rich treatment for skin ailments and beauty regimens for centuries.

Contact Gallop at 321-242-3642, jdgallop@floridatoday.com and on Twitter at @JDGallop