{"id":199359,"date":"2026-03-20T16:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/199359\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T16:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:21:08","slug":"desantis-orders-the-sunshine-skyway-fishing-pier-be-rebuilt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/199359\/","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis orders the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier be rebuilt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Ron DeSantis has provided a massive update on Tampa Bay\u2019s Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier.<\/p>\n

DeSantis on Thursday said the south pier will be replaced with a new structure built next to the damaged one. He added that the north pier will be improved to extend its lifespan by two decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a major place for a lot of people,\u201d DeSantis said during a press conference to announce he signed a bill that blocks the building<\/a> of a cruise ship terminal in Manatee County.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re aiming to have this project completed expeditiously so people can once again enjoy this great recreational attraction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The original Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which connects St. Petersburg to Manatee County, was damaged, replaced, then converted into what the state advertises<\/a> as the longest fishing pier in the world.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: A portion of Skyway’s south fishing pier closes due to structural concerns<\/a><\/p>\n

But 2024\u2019s Hurricane Milton damaged the pier again, DeSantis said.<\/p>\n

While DeSantis said it draws troves of anglers, \u201cit’s also a popular recreational spot for photography, kite boarding, kayaking and just enjoying the sights and sounds of Florida’s beautiful Gulf Coast,” he noted.<\/p>\n

The fishing pier is technically broken into two pieces, with a north pier on the Pinellas County side and a south pier on the Manatee County side.<\/p>\n

Following a Florida Department of Transportation inspection, the state shut down a big chunk of the south pier last year. The pier is part of the state park system.<\/p>\n

He said work had already begun to enhance parking and widen seawall sidewalks. Demolition of the south pier and the north pier\u2019s unused, damaged portions will start later in the spring.<\/p>\n

If you have any questions about state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team\u00a0by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Ron DeSantis has provided a massive update on Tampa Bay\u2019s Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier. DeSantis on Thursday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-199359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}