Repairs complete, much-needed Pine Island Bridge reopens
MIAMI - Waiting for the bridge to reopen, it's what people on the Matlacha Isles and Pine Island have been waiting for, letting much-needed supplies and services back on the island along with residents.
"It's great," said resident Cindy Walton. "I'm thrilled and I'm thankful for the work everyone's done. I lay in bed at night and hear the beep, beep beep of trucks so I know they're working 24-7 to get it finished," she said.
Work began Monday to repair the road after a section just before the bridge washed away from Ian's storm surge. One hundred and thirty trucks filled with rock and sand pulled up all day and night for the past 3 days, getting it completed sooner than expected.
"You gotta be able to get out, you gotta be able to do your laundry. Just simple things," said Matlacha Isle resident Greg Knipp. "That's what life's made of, the little simple things," he said.
Knipp hasn't left the island. He's hoping with the road open crews will be able to get in and restore water so he can clean the mud out of his home and finally take a shower.
"Water, I'd rather have it than the electric. You can only wash yourself with clothes, bar of soap, couple bottles of water so many times before it just don't seem like it's working anymore," Knipp said.
The governor said it should get the area up and running faster than anticipated.
"Now that this bridge is opened up they can start to get some of those power trucks because you have some areas where there are significant downed lines," Gov. DeSantis said.
And repair work has begun on the Sanibel Causeway, it collapsed in several places cutting off the island.
"That's a little more difficult fix because the damage was in multiple locations. Nevertheless, they feel confident by the end of the month," DeSantis said.
The governor said in the meantime he'd like to see barges ferrying workers to the island to restore power and clean out debris.