MARCO ISLAND
Structural damage shut down the West Winterberry Bridge on Wednesday, making getting around much more difficult. This bridge has served the people of Marco Island well since the 1960s.
Engineers say its time is up. There will be one last temporary repair, then crews will tear the bridge down and build a new one.
“It’s at the end of its life,” said Marco Island Public Works Director Justin Martin.
It was built in the late 1960s, and now the road is peeling up.
Martin said that the Florida Department of Transportation engineers saw a problem during their annual inspection Wednesday. “That’s the first thing they noticed.”
West Winterberry Bridge. (Credit: WINK News)
If left untouched, it’s a problem. “It could continue that overturning, and then you would see an even greater separation there,” said Martin.
Due to the risks, the city shut down the bridge immediately to all traffic to fix the problem temporarily.
Martin said FDOT originally scheduled the bridge for reconstruction later this year. That will still happen.
“Be patient. We’re gonna do everything that we can in order to reopen it in the interim. But know that later on this spring, we will be starting construction on reconstructing the bridge, and it’s going to be down for a while. Anyway. So I’d say a 12 to 18-month construction period. So it’ll be out for a longer period when we start construction,” Martin said.
The shiny new bridge will cost taxpayers $3.2 million. On the bright side, the temporary repairs will be done by next week. That will allow for cars to cross but no pedestrians.
WINK NEWS