The causeway linking Sanibel Island to the Florida mainland has reopened to residents after being closed for several days following Hurricane Irma and Tropical Storm Jose.
There is a $35 per vehicle toll to use the closed portion of the causeway from Marco Island to the mainland, $50 from Naples and $75 from Captiva.
A re-opening ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Marco Island City Hall.
All lanes have reopened, but the causeway remains closed to allow for the installation of a gate across a gap in the new barriers, said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Federal Navigation District.
A Coast Guard spokesman said the open gap may impede a plane from landing.
The U.S. National Weather Service said Irma dumped 6 to 8 inches of rain at the northern end of the island, with gusts up to 21 mph.
Jose struck northward from a tropical depression west of the Dominican Republic on Wednesday. It will likely be over the state by Thursday, the National Weather Service said.
“We are hopeful that by Saturday we will be able to re-open the causeway,” Lt. Tim Klaver said.
Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, and issued a state of emergency declaration for the island as well.
Hurricane Irma has been a major disaster for the state of Florida and the United States as a whole, said Gov. Rick Scott. (Video via ABC News)
Officials said early Wednesday that the causeway was expected to reopen later in the day.
Officials said the new storm barrier will be in place overnight Thursday.
A man was killed after being struck by a vehicle on Florida’s west coast on Tuesday. Authorities said they are searching for two people seen in a pickup truck driving away from the scene within minutes of the crash in Palm Beach County.
The weather service said the storm’s center was moving in a southwest direction with hurricane-strength winds near the center.
The Weather Channel reported that damage is being assessed on west and central Florida, but no lives have been lost.
Klaver said it’s unclear how the causeway would be re-opened because authorities are