Where Can You Drive on the Seven Mile Bridge?
Last updated on Jan 31st, 2022 at 05:57 pm
Just every bit it was when it was beginning built, the Old Seven Mile Bridge is a awareness.
After beingness closed for more than than five years for restoration, the Erstwhile Seven Mile Bridge reopened Jan. 12, 2022, and immediately drew hordes of people to hike, bicycle, skate, push a stroller, walk a canis familiaris or jog its 2 mile length.
Then far in January, its 35 parking spaces are nearly always full, even on weekdays, with cars often waiting for someone to leave.
There is a steady stream of people coming and going and taking pictures; the span is now far busier than in years before the closure.
Many visitors are as well touring Pigeon Key, the 5-acre island at the end of the span, a historic landmark that tells the fascinating story of the span'due south construction. (See more below.)
The bridge is located at Mile Marker 47 in Marathon and only 2.2 miles of it are accessible. The new Seven Mile Bridge is immediately adjacent on the ocean side.
What makes the Old Seven Mile Bridge so special?
Old 7, as it is nicknamed, stands out in the Keys for 2 reasons — its history (information technology was in one case called the Eighth Wonder of the World) and the natural dazzler you experience from it.
When we walked and biked the span in January, on one lucky bike ride, nosotros paused to gaze into the water and saw three huge spotted rays at one point and a sea turtle and a big nurse shark at another. The many visitors were a help. We noticed people gathering to look down and took advantage of their abrupt eyes.
Even without these wildlife sightings, the view from the bridge is spectacular – so many shades of blue, those dramatic Florida clouds, boats zipping underneath, fishermen moored nearby, the elegant new bridge in the distance, the pelicans, gulls, magnificent frigate birds, osprey and other birds.
The story of the Erstwhile Seven Mile Bridge and Flagler's Overseas Railroad
The Old Vii Mile Bridge is closely tied with Florida'southward history — Henry Flagler'due south railroad down the e coast of Florida is what opened the state to the world. For meliorate or worse, Florida is what it is because of Henry Flagler.
A very rich old human by the fourth dimension he fell in dear with Florida, Flagler kept extending his railroad farther and farther downwards the Atlantic Declension. When he decided to extend the railroad over the water to Key West, Flagler'due south men told him while it could be washed, they didn't recommend it — its tremendous cost could never exist recovered.
They were right.
Flagler's Overseas Railroad, the first land route from Miami to Key West when it opened in 1912, was a financial failure and and so it became a downright disaster.
A devastating 1935 hurricane brought 200 mph winds and a 17-foot storm surge, washing away miles of railroad at Islamorada. Flagler's bankrupt Florida East Coast railway sold the whole right-of-way to the state for one-seventh what information technology cost Flagler to build the railroad. (Flagler had died a year after the railroad opened.)
The Onetime Seven Mile Bridge was easily converted by the land of Florida to an automotive bridge — that's the surface that was merely restored — and the Overseas Highway opened in 1938.
For 44 years, until the adjoining new span opened in 1982, the One-time Seven Mile Bridge was the only route cars could have to Key West. Information technology was 22 feet wide, a single lane in each management with no shoulder at all.
Visiting the Keys between 1978 and 1982, I vividly remember it as a spectacularly beautiful but white-knuckle ride. When you lot experience how narrow it is first-hand, you will know what I mean.
Today, when you visit the old bridge, be sure to notice the guardrails. Shiny new ones safely line the bridge, but on the outer side are the rusting rails of the original Flagler railroad. When the bridge was converted for cars, the old rails were simply repurposed as guardrails for the new roadway – and they're all the same at that place.
Visiting the Erstwhile Seven Mile Bridge
Erstwhile Seven is a cracking terminate on a trip through the Florida Keys, merely parking is probable to be an effect. While right at present the lot remains full or nearly total at most times, visitors don't necessarily stay long, so the spaces turn over adequately quickly.
Bicyclists can park north of the bridge in various places in Marathon and have the first-class bike trail on the bay side of the road right to the bridge.
There is a little street parking on the other side of United states 1, just beyond the Sunset Grille and Raw Bar. What makes this parking viable is that there is now a scenic walkway under the highway betwixt that eating place and the park at the base of the Former Seven Mile Bridge. (Or take a meal at the Sunset Grille then take a walk on the span later.)
Mutual questions about the Old Seven Mile Bridge
Are in that location restrooms at the Old Seven Mile Span? Nope, and they are very much needed.
Can you fish on the Old Seven Mile Span? No, and with the walkers and bicyclists, it's clear at that place wouldn't be room for line-fishing. You can fish from the park at the base of the span on the bay side.
Can I use an electric bike on the Old Seven Mile Bridge? There is a 15 mph speed limit. I did meet electric bikes using the bridge.
Can I walk my canis familiaris on the Old Vii Mile Bridge. There is no signage forbidding it and I saw plenty of dogs.
Tin can I picnic near the bridge? Aye! There are four picnic tables that remain from the earlier park at the base of operations of the bridge and four new picnic tables under a roof. These tables take a beautiful view overlooking the bay. Without restrooms nearby, withal, they aren't perfect spots for a meal.
Can I bike or walk to Pigeon Key? Absolutely. I have more than near visiting Pigeon Key beneath. Right now, the folks at Pigeon Central are scrambling to respond to the opening of the bridge months before than expected. Soon, you volition have to pay admission ($15 per developed) to go on the island on foot. Right at present, tours arrive by boat; soon in that location will be a tram.
When was the Sometime Seven Mile Bridge built? Old Seven was built between 1908 and 1912 and equally many as 400 workmen lived on Dove Fundamental during its structure.
Did they blow up that section of the Old Vii Mile Bridge for a motion-picture show? No, information technology simply looked that style. Old Vii has appeared in several films, well-nigh famously the 1994Truthful Liesouth with Arnold Schwarzenegger, where the old bridge is shown being destroyed past missile strikes. The explosion was washed on an eighty-pes model.
Visiting Dove Fundamental: Where the Quondam Seven Mile Bridge started
Few history lessons are as beautiful equally this one: A visit to Dove Cardinal, a picturesque picayune island surrounded by dazzling blue water in the middle of the One-time Seven Mile Span.
Pigeon Key visitors pay $15 (kids 5-13 are $12; kids 5 and nether are $v) and are whisked past speed boat from Marathon to the isle — a delightful two-mile ride.
In spring 2022, a 60-passenger tram volition have visitors across the Old 7 Mile Span to Pigeon Key instead of a boat.
When you have a tour of Dove Key, a guide walks y'all through a few of its xi historic buildings. Pigeon Key housed the workers who congenital the Seven Mile Span from 1908 to 1912.
The Seven Mile Bridge and Dove Key's fascinating history are told through displays and artifacts in its museum.
There'due south more history on Pigeon Fundamental. Visitors tin can bring their dejeuner and picnic. You lot are encouraged to stay after the tour and snorkel in the clear waters off Pigeon Key'southward dock.
- Tours of Dove Keyare at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. The tours last about 2 hours and include the 2-mile boat ride ferrying you to and from the isle. To visit Pigeon Key, go to the company center located at 2010 Overseas Highway in Marathon, which is Mile Marking 47.5 bayside between Faro Blanco Resort and the Marriott Hotel.
- Hither's a Florida Rambler guide to visiting Pigeon Primal.
The $77 million project to salvage the One-time Seven Mile Bridge
Saving Old Seven had been a major crusade in the Keys and in 2014, three levels of government came together to fund a major restoration project. Under the plan, the county, the Urban center of Marathon and the Florida Department of Transportation all contribute. FDOT pays $57 million over a thirty-year period; Monroe County pays $fourteen million and the Metropolis of Marathon pays $five million.
With the two.2 mile section of the bridge refurbished, it tin can hold 17-ton vehicles, such equally burn down trucks. The bridge is limited to trams going to Dove Fundamental, pedestrians, bicyclists and emergency vehicles.
More about the Former Vii Mile Bridge
- Jerry Wilkinson's detailed history of the Overseas Railroad.
- Friends of Old Seven, a not-profit committed to preserving the bridge.
Resources for planning a Florida Keys vacation
- Mile marker guide with dozens of stops to help brand the most of your drive south.
- Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail: The best sections to bike
- Florida Keys wildlife: Places to come across animals
- Tiki bars: Soak up the Keys atmosphere
- 12 dandy kayak outings in the Keys
- Top 10 pit stops on Overseas Highway
- Best beaches in the Florida Keys
Other nearby things to do in the Upper and Centre Keys
- Indian Primal: Kayak into history
- Islamorada emerging equally hub with new museum, breweries
- Feed the tarpon at Robbie'southward Marina
- Sea Turtle Infirmary in Marathon
Notation:
Many readers have written to enquire: Tin can you lot bicycle beyond the new Seven Mile Bridge?
You could only practice this on the new bridge — I wouldn't practice it simply, then, I'one thousand a recreational bicyclist who is looking for stress-complimentary, safe trails. It is non recommended for that kind of ride!
Many bicyclists do information technology. There's virtually a five-foot lane for bikes and the bridge is mostly flat, with nigh one-mile at the centre elevated, co-ordinate to a bicyclist who has written about it. Here'south a department of her business relationship on pedaling the length of the Keys.
Here's more about the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail. If y'all are bicycling in the Keys and want to skip crossing the Seven Mile Bridge, Marathon taxis now accept bike racks and can shuttle you lot and your bike across the bridge.
A note from the editor:
The writer, Bonnie Gross, travels with her husband David Blasco, discovering off-the-beaten path places to hike, kayak, wheel, swim and explore. Florida Rambler was founded in 2010 by Bonnie and fellow journalist Bob Rountree, two long-fourth dimension Florida residents who have spent decades exploring the Florida outdoors. Their articles have been published in the Sun Scout, the Miami Herald, the Orlando Sentinel, The Guardian and Visit Florida.
Source: https://www.floridarambler.com/historic-florida-getaways/old-seven-mile-bridge/
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