Sanibel Causeway

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 Lee County's 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 spans are now in operation, and the third bridge's replacement is set to be completed in September. Construction of the new bridges commenced shortly after major structural damage from old age and corrosion from salt water was discovered in January 2003. Shortly after this damage was discovered, the bridges were very closely monitered and the damaged sections were braced with steel pilings. The causeway's speed limit was temporarily lowered to 20 miles per hour. Shortly after, the whole causeway was shut down for a day in order to perform emergency repairs. These repairs included a complete replacement of a badly damaged 48-foot section of Bridge B. The whole island prepared for the shut-down as if it were a hurricane, and many island businesses were closed that day. The repairs were completed quickly, and the causeway re-opened on time.

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 low-clearance drawbridge. The initial construction of the high-span bridge sparked a lot of controversy among the governments of Lee County and the city of Sanibel. The city of Sanibel (who does not own the Causeway) wanted the drawbridge to be either refurbished or replaced 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 the whole bridge is currently being demolished.

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 B to help reduce corrosion from salt spray, which was one of the major factors in the deterioration of the old bridge. The original Bridge B is currently being demolished.

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.

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.

References

• Davis, Norah (September/October 2003), "Rebuilding a Community Link", Public Roads, vol. 67, no. 2 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Project News

External Links

• Sanibel Causeway and Bridge Construction Project