Wilson Pigott Bridge in Fort Myers reopens after week-long closure

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)—The Wilson Pigott Bridge will reopen before the afternoon rush after being closed for more than a week.

The Florida Department of Transportation says the project is right on schedule. The bridge won't be open in time for the morning commute, but it will reopen before the afternoon rush.

For nearly two weeks, drivers faced traffic backups and lengthy detours. The Boathouse Tiki Bar and Grill, located on the other side of the bridge, says the closure hit the business hard.

"It's just been such a pullback to try to get people to come into the restaurant. I mean, you're closing down 31 basically, kind of just a huge hindrance for everybody," said Jordan Audia, general manager of the Boathouse.

Drivers were forced to take lengthy detours, turning what used to be a short drive into a much longer one.

"You look on GPS, and everything's an hour. So you go the backside, behind the fair, and you try to get over here. I found out new detours I didn't even know about," Audia said.

Audia says his staff spent the last several days posting online and walking customers through detours, trying to make the best of a tough situation. Now, they're getting ready for the reopening.

"Everybody's super excited. We can't, we got, you know, get back to normal, some kind of normality," Audia said.

The closure allowed crews to remove the bridge's old steel grid deck. FDOT Public Information Director Janella Newsome says the work primarily focused on welding.

Newsome says FDOT understood the frustration but says this larger project was the only way to solve a repeated problem.

"They got sick and tired of us having to do emergency repairs on such short notice, month after month after month," Newsome said.

Newsome says this will hopefully reduce the need for those emergency repairs. Crews will finish striping and signal adjustments before the bridge reopens.