Pine Island, a barrier island off Florida’s southwest coast, had only one bridge to the mainland.
Hurricane Ian destroyed that bridge, rendering it impassible and cutting off Pine Island residents from accessing the mainland by road. However, the government is reacting quickly.
Governor Ron DeSantis has instructed the Florida Department of Transportation to help Lee County to speed up emergency repairs to the roadways that access Pine Island.
FDOT expects Pine Island access to be restored by next Saturday after starting to mobilize crews, equipment, and supplies on Sunday. In addition to other recovery initiatives like power restoration and debris removal, these fixes are necessary for first responders and locals to access the island.
“The 9,000 residents of Pine Island — some still on the island and those not — are without power, water, and other critical resources needed to recover from Hurricane Ian,” DeSantis said.
Over 88% of Florida’s roadways have been cleaned by FDOT’s Cut and Toss teams, unclogging most of the Sunshine State’s transportation grid.
A temporary road will be built to restore Pine Island’s link to the mainland. FDOT workers will continue cleaning the passage through the island once the temporary road is finished to give emergency personnel, professionals in disaster recovery, and locals safe driving access.
Permanent repairs will then be built after the first recovery activities have receded. The temporary road and bridges will provide a secure short-term solution for urgent access, even if the permanent replacement is anticipated to take some time to complete.
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