New causeway span opens to Sanibel
Old drawbridge now a memory
BY JEFF _CULL jcull@florida-weekly.com

FLORIDA-WEEKLY PHOTO The new 'A' span of the Sanibel Causeway dwarfs the existing drawbridge it replaces. Motorists will get to drive the new bridge on Thursday, June 21.

After a decade of debate, a couple lawsuits and years of construction, one more piece of the Sanibel Causeway puzzle is about to fall in to place.

Thursday night, June 21, pedestrians and motorists will be channeled on to the new "A" span of the causeway that replaces the aging drawbridge over San Carlos Bay.

The opening was pushed back nearly a week because of incomplete construction inspections.

"We're waiting on the fire suppression test (in the new toll plaza)," said Kris Cella, a spokesperson for the Lee County construction project. "Hopefully, everything will pass Tuesday and we'll open the bridge Thursday."

Demolition of the old middle or "B" span began earlier this week. The new bridge opened in April. Lee County's turning part of that span into a fishing pier and the county parks department will take over the spoil islands and operate them as parks, officials said in April.

FLORIDA-WEEKLY PHOTO Aerial view of the eastern most span of the Sanibel Causeway. The new 'A' span replaces the aging drawbridge that was the center of controversy for years.

About 300 feet of the old middle span will be transformed from a vehicle bridge into a fishing platform with a new concrete deck and more fishing-friendly guardrails, said Paul Wingard, deputy director of the Lee County Department of Transportation.

The old drawbridge was built along with the other two spans to create the causeway in 1963. The bridges withstood years of maintenance neglect and finally engineers hired by the county said the existing bridges were beyond repair. They said the bridges are crumbling because they were poorly designed and built with substandard material. They must be replaced at a cost of $105 million.

But Sanibel wanted the "A" span to be replaced with another drawbridge - the county wanted a 70-foot-high clear span - and it sued. That delayed the project for years and was finally thrown out of court.

The new "A" span will be 70 feet high and include an 8-foot wide breakdown lane that will double as a bike path.

The final leg of the causeway, the span closest to Sanibel, is expected to be completed in August.