Going up: Fort Pierce North Causeway Bridge starts timed openings for six-month test

Keona Gardner | Treasure Coast Newspapers

Show Caption Hide Caption Video: Fort Pierce to get new North Causeway Bridge After 55 years, Fort Pierce will say good-bye to the old North Causeway drawbridge. KEONA GARDNER/TCPALM

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Motorists who use the North Causeway Bridge no longer have to guess when it will be open or closed.

Starting Tuesday, the 56-year old bridge will go to scheduled openings for six months, the Florida Department of Transportation announced.

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The bridge will open three times every hour — every 20 minutes: at the top of the hour, 20 minutes past the hour and 40 minutes past the hour — from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, according to FDOT.

The bridge will open on demand after 7 p.m. daily, on weekends, federal holidays, for vessels in distress and for tugs and tows.

The schedule will remain until Feb. 28, when the Coast Guard will evaluate the change and decide ­­­whether to make the timed openings permanent or to return to opening on demand, according to FDOT.

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The change already is getting positive reviews.

"This is great because it will help the residents on the island, and really anyone who is coming to the beach, know when the bridge is open or closed," said Craig Mundt, president of the North Beach property owners association.

The schedule marks a reversal from about three years ago, when the Coast Guard denied the association's request for timed opening of the bridge. Mundt said. The Coast Guard reconsidered after requests from Rep. Brian Mast, R-Palm City, and St. Lucie County Commissioner Cathy Townsend, he said.

Meanwhile, FDOT continues to work on plans to replace the bridge.

A new bridge is needed because the current span is "structurally deficient" and past its 50-year life cycle.

Construction of the new 86-foot-high bridge is to start in August 2021, FDOT officials said.

Construction was delayed a year because the state has had problems acquiring the property needed for the project and difficulty designing a plan that would allow access to Harbortown Marina, at the southwestern foot of the bridge.

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