TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Is Bridge Closure End Of A Long Friendship?

ADVERTISEMENT

By RICH SHOPES and MIKE SALINERO

rshopes@tampatrib.com msalinero@tampatrib.com

Published: November 7, 2008

TAMPA - A span of the Friendship TrailBridge, popular with joggers and cyclists, was closed Thursday because of safety concerns. It may never reopen.

Inspectors recently found as many as 50 deteriorating concrete beams. The middle section of the 2.6-mile bridge was shut down - from the wooden fishing catwalk on the Pinellas side to the catwalk on the Hillsborough side, about 1.8 miles.

"I'm going to go on the bridge now and cry," Donna Carter of St. Petersburg said as she prepared to make one last run.

Users said the TrailBridge offers a safe alternative to the Gandy Bridge, which runs parallel. About 500,000 people cross the TrailBridge yearly.

Gene Meagher of South Tampa said he bikes across the span three times a week to stay fit.

"There's just a nice feel out here, the breeze; sometimes you can see dolphins," he said. "When you come down here early in the morning when the sun rises, it's just beautiful."

Hillsborough County commissioners asked for a report in 30 days detailing the corrosion and the estimated cost to repair the bridge, built in 1956.

The county did an engineering inspection in March 2007, but at that time the damage "was not nearly as extensive" as what was found Tuesday, public works director Bob Gordon said.

Frank Miller, director of a citizens group trying to preserve the bridge, said he isn't giving up hope it can be saved: "Hopeful. That's the word," he said. "If it can at all be saved, it's worth it."

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT