Pine Island Causeway

Pine Island Causeway
Aerial view of the 1968–2012 Matlacha Pass Bridge
Coordinates	26°37′57.55″N 82°04′04.68″W / 26.6326528°N 82.0679667°W / 26.6326528; -82.0679667
Carries	CR 78 (Pine Island Road)
Crosses	Matlacha Pass
Locale	Matlacha, Florida
Maintained by	Lee County Department of Transportation
Characteristics
Design	3 concrete bridges with 1 bascule span
Clearance above	9 ft (2.7 m) (with drawbridge lowered)
History
Opened	Original crossing: 1927; 97 years ago (1927) Matlacha Pass Bridge: 1968; 56 years ago (1968) (second bridge) 2012; 12 years ago (2012) (current bridge) Porpoise Pass Canal Bridge: 1979; 45 years ago (1979) (current bridge) Little Pine Island Bridge: 1977; 47 years ago (1977) (current bridge)
Statistics
Toll	None
Location

The Pine Island Causeway is a roadway in Southwest Florida spanning Matlacha Pass connecting Pine Island, the largest island in Florida, to the main land in Cape Coral. The causeway carries Pine Island Road (CR 78) and consists of three bridges with dredged land sections in between them. The islands connected to the middle of the causeway are also home to the community of Matlacha (pronounced Mat-La-Shay).^[1] It provides the only vehicular access to both Matlacha and Pine Island.

The Pine Island Causeway begins on the main land in Cape Coral. Heading west, the first bridge is the Matlacha Pass Bridge, a low level single-leaf bascule bridge. The causeway then enters the community of Matlacha on dredged land connected to Porpoise Point Island and West Island. The Porpoise Pass Canal Bridge on the causeway connects the two islands. The causeway then crosses the Little Pine Island Bridge, a low-level fixed-span bridge, to Pine Island.