SARASOTA – “I love it, I love the view, I haven’t seen it like this before,” said Taylor Russo.
Thursday night the John Ringling Causeway lit up the night with new sixty new LED lights added to splash some color the iconic bridge. “It looks really good, especially at night lit up against the water and everything,” said Russo.
Russo, a longtime resident, runs along the bridge almost every night. She said when heading out for her nightly run she was surprised to see the colorful transformation.
“I was surprised when I was actually driving over here that I saw it,” she said. “I’m like ‘Oh what is that? I definitely think people will be stopping here for sure, it’ll catch the eye.”
Sarah Malisi and her family are visiting from Germany. She says her family was driving over the bridge and had to pull over and admire the view.
“It’s very nice and the colors are changing and when the night, when it’s dark, it’s a nice spot to walk by,” said Malisi.
The LED lights where installed to replace old lights that have been damaged with years of being around the sea. Spokesperson with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) says the lights were added to create a similar look and feel to bridges in Jacksonville, Miami, Pensacola, and Tampa.
FDOT crews got to work on this project back in June. The total cost of the project is $178,000.
