JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A beloved and historic fishing pier is shrinking. Not physically shrinking, but finding a spot on the George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier in Nassau County is getting harder due to deteriorating conditions and new notice is warning of closures that could force people away.
Families like Leatrice Bell’s have been coming to the The George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier for years.
“This is our lively hood, this will cut off a lot of families," Bell said.
The mile-long span was built in 1948 and was closed to traffic in 1999 when a new stretch of A1A was constructed. It was renamed the George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier in 2003 in honor of state Rep. George Crady who fought to save the bridge for public fishing
Since then, hurricanes, time and the corrosive impacts of sea air and saltwater are causing parts of the bridge to fall into the water. Driving past the bridge you can see pieces of concrete are missing.
Current access is only available from the Nassau County side at Amelia Island State Park, a padlocked security fence restricts nearly half of the bridge from use.
A new notice warns of even more closures due to advanced deterioration of the structure, according to the FL Department of Environmental Protection.
“Look today, to many people coming in for fish, we don’t have spot for fish now," Joaquin Guges, a local fisherman, said.
“Mr George Crady told me years ago there was money allocated to maintain this park, that was in ’03, Nothing has been done, where is the money, the park has gone down," Bell said.
According to reports from the FL Department of Environmental Protection; after the 2016 hurricane Mathew, bridge repairs were determined to be unfeasible. Fencing was installed in 2018 limiting access to Nassau County side. Since then, the security fencing was moved to the center of the bridge to exclude access to additional spans based on safety concerns.
A spokesperson with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection said, “Two repair and renovations projects are currently underway: improving safety railings, as mentioned in the timeline, and an electronic gate that will automatically open and close with current park operating hours to facilitate entry.“
As of this weekend, the electronic fence has been installed at the opening of the bridge.
But families like Bell says it's not enough.
“This is the forgotten bridge...We would like to see this bridge open up from Nassau to Duval, from Duval to Nassau like it use to be so we can spread out cause we are bunched up, we are crowded, and it’s overcrowded," Bell said.
The project to improve safety railings is currently underway.
State representatives say hours of operation will remain from 8 am to sundown, consistent with statewide park operations. They note; "At this time, there are no plans to add additional lighting to the bridge as it is not open past sundown and artificial lighting is disruptive to sea turtle’s nesting on nearby beaches."