If you've crossed to North Hutchinson Island lately, you noticed: the new North Causeway bridge in Fort Pierce is open. FDOT swung the gates at 8 a.m. on May 15, 2026, sending traffic onto a brand-new fixed span over the Indian River Lagoon.
Here's the headline number for the 772: at 85 feet of clearance, it's now the tallest bridge on the Treasure Coast. Tall boats with high masts slide right under — no more waiting for a drawbridge to crank open.
And that's the real win. The old D.H. 'Banty' Saunders drawbridge dated to 1954 and FDOT had flagged it as structurally deficient, with heavy corrosion in the deck steel. Replacing it with a fixed span means no more openings, no more backups, and a structure built to last.
The new bridge runs about 1.2 miles and carries one 12-foot lane in each direction. But the part locals will love is the people-friendly stuff: a 12-foot shared-use path on the westbound side, an 8-foot sidewalk on the eastbound side, both barrier-protected, plus 7-foot bike lanes. Walking or biking to the beach just got a lot safer.
The whole package ran $115.9 million in state and federal money. Associated work — landscaping, final connections, cleanup — keeps rolling through late 2027, so don't be surprised to still see crews and cones around the approaches.
What happens to the old drawbridge? Demolition, then a second life underwater. FDOT plans to haul the debris out to an artificial reef roughly four miles northeast of the Fort Pierce Inlet, where it'll become fish habitat. A fitting end for a span that served the island for 70 years.
Bottom line: smoother crossings, no more drawbridge waits, and a safer walk or ride to North Hutchinson. One of the bigger 772 infrastructure projects in years just crossed the finish line.