Card Sound Bridge

Card Sound Bridge
Card Sound Bridge, looking west towards the toll station
Carries	CR 905A (Card Sound Road)
Crosses	Card Sound
Locale	Miami-Dade County
Maintained by	Dade and Monroe Counties
Characteristics
Total length	2800ft
History
Construction cost	$2.6 million
Opened	1926
Statistics
Daily traffic	1900 vehicles per day
Toll	$1

Card Sound Bridge is a high-rise toll causeway connecting southern Miami-Dade County and northern Monroe County. It is one of only two ways that motorists can leave or enter the Florida Keys (the other is U.S. Route 1). Toll for two-axle automobiles is USD $1.00 (USD $.50 for each additional axle), and SunPass is not accepted at this toll plaza. The toll fee is waived upon evacuating the Keys for hurricanes or in instances in which US 1 is impassable.

The primary responsibility for operating Card Sound Bridge lies with Monroe County, but maintenance of the bridge itself is shared between Monroe County and the Florida Department of Transportation. The bridge itself is on Card Sound Road, constructed by then-Dade County in 1926 for the original Card Sound Bridge. Toll employees are locals, living in a very small town along Card Sound Road on the north side of the bridge, and according to toll operators, a portion of the proceeds from the toll go to fund parts of their community.

Like the Overseas Highway, the history of Card Sound Bridge begins with the Overseas Railway - although at no time was the bridge part of Henry M. Flagler's plans. The concept of an Overseas Highway (then called "Overseas Road") began with the Miami Motor Club in 1921. At that time, southern Florida was undergoing a land boom, and the club wanted to attract new tourists to an easily reached fishing area. In addition, the real estate interests wanted access to thousands of acres of wilderness in the Upper Keys to develop and sell.

Commissioners from Dade and Monroe Counties agreed to build a highway connecting Florida City to Key Largo. They preferred to build it alongside the Overseas Railroad, which was completed in 1912; commercial interests and motorists attending the joint meeting expressed a preference for a road extending to the southeast, to Card Sound, instead. In 1922, Monroe County residents approved the issuance of $300,000 of bonds for a new bridge; under an agreement with their Monroe brethren, Dade County officials would oversee the construction of an 11-mile (18 km)-long Card Sound Road to the wooden drawbridge.