Former Sanibel resident here, so I can speak to this a bit...
The storm basically
washed out the approaches on all three spans as well as the two man-made islands in the middle of the bay. The existing causeway opened in 2007 and replaced the original bridge, built in 1963. Per yesterday's update from the city, FDOT has contractors inspecting the bridge and looking at replacement options. I assume they're trying to determine whether there is any damage to the bridge structures that would require complete replacement, or if rebuilding the approaches and islands would be sufficient.
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds was at the meeting and said FDOT and the feds have already agreed to fund the reconstruction or replacement. He promised the reconstruction would go quickly with minimal red tape. I don't know if it's feasible to just pull out the plans from 20 years ago and build it again, or if other changes will be required. I would assume they will want any replacement structure to be engineered to withstand another storm surge like this, since the causeway was supposed to be engineered to withstand exactly this sort of event.
The city/county/state are also looking into temporary ferry service options. The city has a contract with a barge company to bring heavy equipment and city vehicles over to the island, but obviously there are thousands of totaled cars on the island that will need to be removed, and no rebuilding can take place until there's a way to get all the materials and equipment to the island every day.
They raised the toll from $3 to $6 to fund the 2007 replacement, and I see now that they've added a $3 "administrative fee" for toll-by-plate without any option to pay cash. I would like to think they won't raise it any further once it reopens, especially if the feds are paying for much of it, but I guess we'll see. Once it reopens, please come visit our beautiful island again. Just make sure you have a SunPass.
