Caloosahatchee Bridge to partially re-open Sunday

What has been a nightmare closure for many has nearly reached its endpoint, the Caloosahatchee Bridge partially re-opens Sunday night.

The Florida Department of Transportation is building an 8-foot sidewalk to make it safer for bikers and pedestrians to cross the bridge.

And while not all lanes will be open on Monday this picture is what it will look like by the end of the year, when all the work is done.

But business owners say the 10-week total shutdown hasn’t been easy for them.

WINK News anchor Taylor Wirtz spoke with downtown businesses who say their sales plummeted since the bridge closed at the end of May.

“Everything that we expected was actually turning out to be, you know, promising since taking over this business,” said Kaiz Premji, the owner of Cheers Wine and Liquor. “As soon as the bridge closed, sales took a nosedive.”

People are just avoiding coming here entirely, and the loss of customers has taken its toll.

“I had four employees, I had to let go of two. The other two, I have to balance their hours,” said Premji.

Premji isn’t alone. He says almost every business near the end of the Caloosahatchee Bridge is fighting the same battle.

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RELATED: North Fort Myers businesses struggle after Caloosahatchee Bridge closure

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Eric McComas of Tattoo Alchemy said he depends on a lot of the walk-ins he gets during the summer.

“We’re a tourist area. That’s where we make a chunk of the money that we can make throughout the year to float us in any of those seasonal times when it slows down… And that bridge being closed for the entire summer…that’s hard. It definitely is,” said McComas.

Neighbors told WINK that while the bridge was closed, traffic was unbearable; but FDOT’s Communications Director Janella Newsome told us back in May the closure put the construction way ahead of schedule.

“This traffic nightmare sucks and I’ve been in line now for an hour just trying to get home,” said one local.

“This closure provides an opportunity for the project to finish one year ahead of schedule. Let me repeat that, this closure provides an opportunity for the project to finish one year ahead of schedule,” said Newsome.

And as of Sunday morning, we are just hours away from the re-opening.

Drivers are relieved these 10 weeks are up and that the bridge is partially reopening.

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RELATED: Caloosahatchee Bridge closes for 10-week project

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The keyword being partially…Because construction isn’t over yet, this was just phase one of the project.

FDOT said they’ll be reopening both northbound lanes but only one southbound lane in the meantime.

Crews will occasionally close one northbound lane when needed during the day and night.

But this moment is something drivers like Carolyn Weaver have been waiting for.

WINK News introduced you to her on the first day of the bridge closure by joining her on her morning commute to work.

It was a hassle then, and even more when Tropical Storm Debby passed.

With all the flooding closing her new main route to and from work, the Edison Bridge.

“And of course, it closed the northbound bridge, and so trying to get home that day took an hour and a half, and it was just crazy. And I thought, I mean, what’s going to happen if a real storm was there? Car after car after car just trying to make their way north, because it’s either that or the bridge, and there aren’t many options,” said Weaver. “I’m really, really looking forward to it opening up again. Yeah, it really will lighten the load. I can’t wait until it opens completely.”

And that complete reopening is expected to happen by late Dec. or early Jan. instead of in 2026 as was originally planned.

It’s because of this closure that helped to speed the project up by over 400 days.

So, as they work through phase 2 now you can expect to see nighttime closures from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekends and weekdays.

Traffic is also expected on those first days of reopening.

WINK News will keep you updated on the latest route changes and lane closures.