This past Thursday, Florida’s Pensacola Bay Bridge was completed, adding a sixth and final lane to the structure. With the sixth lane open, a third travel lane going east bound is now open to traffic.
Settling at approximately $440 million in construction costs, the bridge stands as the largest transportation initiative undertaken in Northwest Florida history. Over 55,000 drivers travel between Pensacola and Gulf Breeze across this bridge.
Construction began on the bridge in 2017 but was delayed in 2020 when Skanska-owned construction barges became unmoored during Hurricane Sally. This brought on a wave of lawsuits towards Skanska related to damages and financial losses from the bridge outage.
While all six lanes on the bridge are now usable, there is still work to be done to the structure. Work crews may be seen painting, working on the bridge’s lighting system, working on completing the wayside park area in Gulf Breeze, and of the shared-use path on the westbound bridge. Due to this work, drivers will experience intermittent nighttime closures.
Drivers are reminded to be cautious and stay vigilant of their surroundings and of bridge work activity when using the Pensacola Bay Bridge. Completion of the project is estimated for next spring.
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Source: Yahoo.com
