Flordia Governor Ron DeSantis announced the Sanibel Island causeway would be repaired ahead of schedule. The bridge is being used by utility vehicles now and will be available for public use as early as October 21st.
DeSantis made the announcement yesterday in front of the causeway. While full repairs were initially set to be completed by the end of October, per Florida’s Voice, the timetable has now accelerated. It was as DeSantis announced that utility vehicles began slowly moving across the bridge, not even two weeks since Hurricane Ian made landfall.
“If we didn’t do the causeway or if we had left the causeway to linger and didn’t send anyone on the island, then nothing would have happened up to this point,”
🙏AMAZING. Today, Governor DeSantis announced the Sanibel Island Causeway repairs have progressed such that a convey of 350+ utility vehicles utilized it to expedite power restoration to residents. The state is continuing repairs for full restoration of public use by 10/21. https://t.co/htpbeCN91L
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 #FloridaStrong (@DeSantisWarRoom) October 11, 2022
Over 350 utility vehicles are set to cross the causeway, primarily to help restore power for Sanibel Island residents, according to DeSantis War Room.
🙏AMAZING. Today, Governor DeSantis announced the Sanibel Island Causeway repairs have progressed such that a convey of 350+ utility vehicles utilized it to expedite power restoration to residents. The state is continuing repairs for full restoration of public use by 10/21. https://t.co/htpbeCN91L
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 #FloridaStrong (@DeSantisWarRoom) October 11, 2022
DeSantis also posted an aerial video of the operation to do justice to its scale.
At my direction, @MyFDOT has expedited the temporary repair of the Sanibel Causeway to allow a one-time convoy of trucks to augment power restoration efforts.
Further repairs to the causeway will commence after the convoy. FDOT is working to restore access to the public ASAP. pic.twitter.com/qQizyRxmIs
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 11, 2022
Brendon Leslie tweeted an aerial image of the utility vehicles waiting for their turn to cross the bridge.
What an amazing sight- just two weeks after the Sanibel Causeway was destroyed in Hurricane Ian, thanks to Governor DeSantis’ leadership, a temporary bridge was built and an army of lineman are on their way to the island to restore power pic.twitter.com/DAOsQPX8cs
— Brendon Leslie (@BrendonLeslie) October 11, 2022
DeSantis outlined that the extra help will be more than welcome on Sanibel Island.
“So the convoy is going to get there. They’re going to be working to restore the power situation. “For those of you who’ve been out on that island, you know, you see concrete poles, utility poles snapped in half. And that’s actually a pretty common sight to see. So it is going to require a lot of manpower.”
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One Twitter user tweeted a before-image of the causeway showing how extensive the initial damage was to put the magnitude of the repairs themselves into perspective.
This is what the #Sanibelcauseway looked like 12 days ago. Amazing! pic.twitter.com/ynKRgknwhT
— Izengabe (@Izengabe_) October 11, 2022
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) also showed off, outlining the massive scope of its repair efforts on Sunday, crediting DeSantis.
Under the direction of @GovRonDeSantis, work continues to change the view from hurricane destruction to recovery construction at Sanibel Island Causeway. Check out the temp. bridge approach repair and all the resources to keep this project moving! #HurricaneIanRecovery @FLSERT pic.twitter.com/0W0hf7AiEN
— FLORIDA DOT (@MyFDOT) October 9, 2022
The crediting is warranted; DeSantis explicitly announced his intent to expedite the process nearly a week ago.
We have flown in engineers to expedite construction on the Sanibel Causeway.
Sanibel suffered extensive damage and we need to get the island connected to the mainland as soon as possible.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 6, 2022
Those efforts have paid off, and Floridians are expressing gratitude for the rapid results.
I'm gobsmacked.
Ron DeSantis just announced the re-opening of the Sanibel Causeway. An enormous convoy just crossed over the restored bridge. It will be open to public on October 21. Unbelievable.
Hallelujah.https://t.co/KY6jnIK45n
— Denny Burk (@DennyBurk) October 11, 2022
Three-hundred LCEC (electric trucks) are headed over the Sanibel Causeway to start the process of restoring electricity to the island. That’s DeSantis leadership!!
— Z! Deb ~~My Story Isn't Finished 2022 (@LearnUSAhistory) October 12, 2022
I really feel sorry for people who don’t have a Gov DeSantis to work and fight for them. The causeway to Sanibel Island destroyed by Ian last week was fixed for power trucks to go across yesterday.
— Mid-term Lou-in-Fla (@LouinFla11) October 12, 2022
Despite the non-political nature of the achievement, some detractors engaged in futile attempts to sour the announcement but were shut down quickly. One user, Lesley Abravanel, claimed half of the island’s population had killed themselves with no evidence.
Less than seven thousand people live on Sanibel year-round.
The Blue Checks are so terrified of DeSantis they're coming up with absolutely nonsensical "rumors" in order to have ammunition they think discredits him.
This is wild. https://t.co/QIB1Pj4t4l
— In Chains (@InChainsInJail) October 10, 2022
But detractors have not been able to stop DeSantis’ momentum. This is the second bridge the governor has announced as repaired in the same number of weeks. Hopefully, the recovery will progress with this speed and effectiveness.
Additional stories you may want to read:
DeSantis and Team Rebuild Bridge in Just Three Days!
Extraordinary Leadership of Gov. DeSantis Shines Through Gloom of Hurricane Ian
