Dames Point bridge spans 25 years, uniting city, sparking growth - Printable Version +- Cricket Windies (https://cricketwindies.com) +-- Forum: What’s on Your Mind? (https://cricketwindies.com/forum-3.html) +--- Forum: The Water Cooler! (https://cricketwindies.com/forum-4.html) +--- Thread: Dames Point bridge spans 25 years, uniting city, sparking growth (/thread-16638.html)

Dames Point bridge spans 25 years, uniting city, sparking growth - chairman - 03-10-2014 Motorists driving across the Dames Point bridge Monday might want to say “happy anniversary.” It was 25 years ago that the cable-stayed bridge over the St. Johns River opened to cut minutes and miles off a trip that before March 10, 1989, would have meant using one of the downtown Jacksonville bridges. The bridge is a main artery on the Interstate 295 East Beltway. It connects Arlington, the Beaches, and Southside with the Northside. About 70,000 cars and trucks a day travel across the 2-mile bridge, officially named the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge in honor of a Jacksonville native who served as Florida’s governor as well as Duval County sheriff. “It’s part and parcel of the growth of Jacksonville,” said Tommy Hazouri, who was a state legislator when the bridge project began and Jacksonville mayor when it was finished. Aesthetically, it’s a real icon. But it’s also significant from a utility standpoint. The bridge serves both people and the economy, Hazouri said. “I think it is a great asset to Jacksonville, opening up the Northside, North Jacksonville and the Southside,” he said.