FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. (WINK) \u2014 A new connection is officially in place for Lee County after years of construction, controversy and change.<\/p>\n
Drivers now have a wider, stronger, future-ready crossing over Big Carlos Pass. What used to sit above the water is now helping build life below.<\/p>\n
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WINK News was at the ribbon-cutting for the new bridge. The wait is finally over after years of planning, delays and construction.<\/p>\n
“What a fantastic day to be in Lee County,” Commissioner David Mulicka said.<\/p>\n
“We’re celebrating the completion of the Big Carlos Bridge,” Mulicka said.<\/p>\n
District Three Commissioner Mulicka said the bridge cost nearly $100 million. Getting here wasn’t always smooth sailing.<\/p>\n
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“It was a struggle to get here. I remember four or five years ago getting those letters and comments and calls about, we don’t want this bridge,” Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass said.<\/p>\n
Despite the pushback, county leaders said this was a necessary step for island transportation.<\/p>\n
“The old draw bridge had its season \u2026 but this new bridge, so much care was taken into making sure that it will be a bridge for the future and future generations to use,” Brian Hamman said.<\/p>\n
They said this storm-resilient bridge will stand for more than 60 years.<\/p>\n
“It’s a bridge that’s going to connect Bonita Springs and Fort Myers Beach together,” Hamman said.<\/p>\n
They said it’s built for more than just cars. There are bike lanes, sidewalks and a shared-use path.<\/p>\n
The old bridge didn’t just disappear\u2014it got a second life. About four nautical miles offshore, more than 2,400 tons of the old drawbridge now make up a brand-new artificial reef.<\/p>\n
“We have repurposed 4.9 million pounds of concrete \u2026 it’s been stacked up out there to create a structure that is an immediate habitat for our marine life,” Leslie Haynes said.<\/p>\n
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The reef will give fishermen a new place to cast a line while giving marine life a new place to call home.<\/p>\n
“It gives them a new area for feeding, reproducing and to hide from predation for decades to come,” Haynes said.<\/p>\n
While the bridge is now open, the area directly underneath it isn’t\u2014at least not yet. It will remain closed until summer 2027 while crews build a new parking lot, restrooms and improved beach access.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. (WINK) \u2014 A new connection is officially in place for Lee County after years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[24854,209,211,210,1695],"class_list":["post-325369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-big-carlos-pass-bridge","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-fort-myers-beach"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325369","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=325369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}