Florida Department of Transportation workers make repairs to the Main Street Bridge.| FDOT
Published on October 3, 2025 at 11:46 am
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
For the first time in weeks, the Main Street Bridge was to fully reopen Monday after closing to all traffic last weekend.
The bridge’s northbound lanes have been closed since September for $2.1 million in repairs after a ship hit the bridge the month before.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
Last weekend:
- The bridge closed in both directions from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday for electrical repairs.
- The northbound lanes had intermittent closures throughout the weekend.
- Boaters who needed to get through the area had to contact the tender operator for information about when the center span can be lifted.
At 6 a.m. Monday, the bridge was to open for all lanes, the Florida Department of Transportation said.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
The Main Street Bridge collision
The ship that hit the 84-year-old bridge — Jacksonville’s oldest — was moving away from the coastal effects of Hurricane Erin about 2:30 a.m. Aug. 19, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
FDOT crews did an immediate safety assessment before reopening the bridge to vehicles four hours later. But the state then needed to do more extensive repairs to the electrical damage the ship caused.
Northbound drivers had to use the Acosta or Hart bridges as crews repaired the Main Street span.
The bridge — officially named the John T. Alsop Jr. Bridge — also was shut down for a week earlier in August so FDOT could do laser imaging of the span, plus a mechanical evaluation ahead of replacing part of its mechanical system in early 2028.
The bridge’s trunnion bearings serve as pivot points at the top of the bridge and allow it to be raised and lowered.
