Sanibel Causeway

Sanibel Causeway
Both the old Bridge A (the drawbridge) and the new Bridge A.
Coordinates	26°28′35″N / 82°01′32″W
Carries	Causeway Blvd. (CR 869)
Crosses	San Carlos Bay
Locale	Sanibel, Florida
Official name	Sanibel Causeway
Maintained by	Lee County Department of Transportation
Characteristics
Design	Concrete Girder Bridge
Total length	3 Miles
Load limit	24 Tons
Clearance above	70 Feet (Bridge A) 26 Feet (Bridge C)
History
Opened	May 26, 1963
Statistics
Toll	$6
Location

The Sanibel Causeway is a causeway consisting of three bridges, located in Lee County, Florida. It links Sanibel Island with the Florida mainland at South Fort Myers. It is three miles long from end to end.

The causeway opened on May 26, 1963, replacing a ferry boat. The entire facility is owned by the Lee County Department of Transportation. The entire facility is treated as one toll bridge, with tolls collected only for traffic going west, onto Sanibel Island. The toll is currently six dollars. The causeway accepts the LeeWay electronic toll collection system, along with the Cape Coral Bridge and the Midpoint Memorial Bridge. The causeway also accepts Florida's SunPass prepaid toll system.

The Sanibel Causeway consists of a series of three bridge spans (labeled Bridges "A", "B" and "C" consecutively heading towards Sanibel Island), and two man-made islands. Construction commenced in 2004 on replacing all three of the original 1963 bridges. Two of the three new bridges are now in operation, and the third bridge's replacement is set to be completed in September. [1] The Lee County DOT realized in 1991 that the three bridges would need to replaced eventually. However, plans were not made official until after major structural damage from old age and corrosion from salt water was discovered on January 6, 2003. Once this damage was discovered, the bridges were very closely monitered and the damaged sections were braced with steel pilings, and the speed limit was temporarily lowered to 20 miles per hour. Lee County then planned to close the whole causeway for an entire day in order to execute a complete replacement of a badly damaged 48-foot section of Bridge B. Sanibel residents and business-owners prepared to be completely sequestered from the mainland as if the island was threatened by a hurricane. The shut-down took place on January 20 (Martin Luther King Day), 2003. This day was chosen because schools and government offices would be closed that day. The repairs were completed quickly, and the causeway re-opened on time. [2] Also, after Hurricane Charley struck the area in 2004, the causeway was very carefully inspected before Sanibel residents were permitted to return to the island.

The top of the old drawbridge as seen from the new bridge.

Bridge A is the closest bridge to the mainland in South Fort Myers. The current Bridge A is a 70-foot fixed span bridge, which opened on June 28, 2007 along with a brand new toll plaza. The original Bridge A was a 26-foot high drawbridge. Plans for replacing the drawbridge with a high-span bridge had been talked about since 1985. However, in 2003, when Lee County officially made plans for the high-span bridge, they were faced with major opposition from the city of Sanibel. Sanibel (who does not own the Causeway) wanted Lee County to either refurbish the drawbridge or replace it with another drawbridge. Sanibel filed a lawsuit against the Lee County DOT over the plans, which delayed construction. Once the new bridge opened, the drawbridge's draw span was permanently raised, and demolition of the whole bridge is now under way.

Bridge B

Bridge B is the middle bridge, and is the shortest of the three bridges. The current Bridge B opened on April 11, 2007, and was the first of the new bridges to open. The current Bridge B was built ten feet taller than the original Bridge B to help reduce corrosion from salt spray, which was one of the major factors in the deterioration of the old bridge. Shortly after the new bridge opened, there was talk about leaving part of the old bridge intact and converting it into a fishing pier, similar to the Sunshine Skyway in St. Petersburg. Lee County DOT agreed and made plans for it. However, the DOT examined the bridge carefully, and decided that the deck sections were not safe enough for fishing from, and that the guardrails were not high enough. Plans are now in place for a brand new fishing pier to be constructed on top of the old bridge's pilings.[3] Demolition of the rest of the bridge is now close to completion.

Bridge C is the closest bridge to Sanibel Island, and is also the longest of the three bridges. The current Bridge C is the only one of the original 1963 bridges still in operation. Bridge C's replacement is set to open on September 8, 2007. The new Bridge C is also being constructed ten feet taller than the original bridge, except at the 26-foot clearance over the navigation channel.

the Toll Plaza

After the old bridges are demolished, they will be sunk into the water to create a number of artificial reefs in the San Carlos Bay. All of the original bridges will be demolished by the end of 2007.

External Links

• Sanibel Causeway and Bridge Construction Project
• Lee County Department of Transportation Homepage

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