Officials plan to close major Tampa Bay bridges Wednesday afternoon

Officials plan to close major Tampa Bay bridges Wednesday afternoon

State officials and municipal partners anticipate closing the four major bridges crossing Tampa Bay on Wednesday afternoon due to the approach of Hurricane Milton. Anyone planning to evacuate across one of the bridges should do so now.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), City of Tampa and City of Clearwater will close the bridges when conditions become too dangerous for travel. FDOT, FHP and local officers will have personnel and equipment onsite to close the bridges.

Message boards will announce whether bridges are closed. When bridges close before a storm makes landfall, law enforcement and traffic resources may be present to guide motorists. However, there will be a time when it is no longer safe for personnel or any physical barriers that close the bridges to be on site.

The public is NOT allowed to cross the bridges once they are closed and should NOT cross the bridges, even if there are no physical barriers or officers there.

• Sunshine Skyway Bridge -The Sunshine Skyway Bridge will close when sustained wind speeds exceed 45 mph. Based on that, transportation officials anticipate a full closure of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge by Wednesday afternoon.

• The Howard Frankland and Gandy bridges are monitored by FHP. FDOT is notified when water is on the roads leading to the bridge. FDOT crews close these bridges when FHP deems it necessary for safety. Transportation officials anticipate this may become necessary by Wednesday afternoon.

• Courtney Campbell Causeway - This bridge is monitored by the Tampa Police Department and the Clearwater Police Department. FDOT works with these agencies to close this bridge when the water gets close to the approaches and makes it dangerous to drive. Officials anticipate this Causeway may close by Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities will reopen the bridges as soon as it is safe to do so, but Hurricane Milton may cause damages requiring structural repairs so reopening may be delayed. Real-time updates on bridge closures and openings can be found on www.FL511.com.