The rebuilt Tarpon Key Causeway reopened to traffic on Friday morning, two months ahead of schedule and $14 million under budget. The 2.4-mile span links Tarpon Key, the first of the Upper Keys, to the mainland and carries about 21,000 vehicles a day.
The new bridge sits four feet higher than the old one, to keep it open during storm surge. It adds a protected bike and walking lane along its whole length and a 900-foot fishing pier built on the piles of the original 1938 span.
Crews worked nights and weekends so that the causeway would be open before the winter season. Today the Keys get their main road back, and a better one.
Tolls on the causeway stay the same: $1.25 with LeoPass, $1.75 by plate. The ferry shuttle that ran during the works ends on Sunday.
