On Tuesday Sept 7, Lee County held a town hall meeting for the citizens of Pine Island to provide information about the new bridge soon to be built in Matlacha, the small island to the east of Pine Island. The existing bridge will remain in place while the new bridge is built, then demolished. There is only one bridge connecting Pine Island to the mainland of Lee County. The bridge in Matlacha is famous for being "the fishingest bridge in the world."
The 18 million dollar bridge project will begin construction on Monday October 11, 2010. Two way traffic will be maintained on the existing bridge from 6 am to 9 pm, but during the night there may be times when only one lane of traffic is open. The sidewalk on the south side of the bridge will be closed and removed at the start of construction. But the sidewalk on the north side of the bridge will remain open for the entire construction period.
The new bridge will also be a draw bridge, which allows for the passage of large boats and sailboats. It will have a protected sidewalk on both sides of the bridge. Completion of the new bridge is scheduled for November, 2012. For more information, about the new Matlacha Bridge to Pine Island, go to
http://www.matlachabridge.info/. For more information about real estate on Pine Island or in Matlacha, contact me, Erika Foye, Real Estate Broker for All Island Realty, Inc. at
erikafoye@embarqmail.com.
