Old Florida Keys bridge reopens to pedestrians, bicyclists

MARATHON: A segment of a 110-year-old

Florida Keys bridge

is reopening to pedestrians and bicyclists on Wednesday following a $44 million restoration project.

Rehabilitation construction on the oft-photographed 2.2-mile (3.5-km) span of the

Old Seven Mile Bridge

began in late 2017.

"What made the project challenging was that it is a historic bridge, and we had to restore the bridge to the same aesthetic fabric as the original," said project manager Tony Sabbag, a

Florida Department of Transportation

contractor.

Nicknamed "Old Seven," the bridge was completed in 1912 as part of Henry Flagler's Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad that connected the Keys with each other and mainland Florida. The span is the gateway to historic Pigeon Key, a tiny island beneath it that once housed 400 railroad construction workers.

In 1938, the railroad bridge was converted to carry automobiles. In 1982, the new Seven Mile Bridge, actually 6.79 miles (10.9 kilometers) long, debuted alongside the historic one, whose steel swing span that facilitated marine traffic between the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico was removed.

The retired "Old Seven" became a popular recreation area and appeared in several films including "True Lies," a 1994 action-comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Wednesday's late morning ribbon-cutting ceremony will be the crowning moment of a 30-year, $77 million agreement inked in 2013 between

Monroe County

, the

City of Marathon

and the Florida Department of Transportation.

That agreement funded restoration and maintenance to preserve the iconic landmark listed on the

National Register of Historic Places

.

"The Old Seven Mile Bridge is important to the Keys, the history of the Keys and a viaduct to get to Pigeon Key," said Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi.

Restoration included structural steel and bridge joint system repairs, new decking, pedestrian and bicycle handrails and other enhancements.