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and a bridge breaks it's a bad bad thing.
Ocean City has three bridges but 9th street is the main way on and off the island. A new bridge is being constructed now. But it's an old bridge and the high heat is causing problems. Whenever it gets over 90 or so when it opens sometimes it won't close. Then the fire department brings hoses out and they hose it off to cool it. Yesterday it took 15hours to get it to go back down.
So if you come into OC on a hot day check when you get close to see if the bridge is ok. You could probably call the police dept to ask. Then head to an alternate route. Plan a bit extra time or go early so if you have to take another road you won't be sitting. Last night we tried for over an hour to get off the island when we finally gave up.

UGH.
They're talking about replacing the bridge here on Long Beach Island. As a full time resident with a business on the mainland I'm going to be *very* interested in the construction plan.

LOL...should have seen us here on my island in 1989 when it actually snowed!
First time in 100 years!

They shut both bridges down for THREE days! at Christmas!

If you were shopping in Jacksonville or wherever? Tough..They did let people park and walk across.....We just aren't equipped to drive on snow and ice in Florida.....imagine that....

It was pretty cool! I dressed all my yard flamingo's in Santa hats and seasonal outfits...

Or what if you're in Maui and an oil-tanker overturns at the junction of all the major highways on the island? Thus effectively shutting down the island. Happened to me when I went to Haleakala and my hotel was between Kaanapali and Kapalua. Didn't get home until 10:30 at night when I had finished with Haleakala around 1:00.

Yep these are the drawbacks to island life. I sometimes think how bad it must be on Key West when a hurricane forces evacuation. During the last bad hurricane a large portion of the OBX was cut off from the world due to a bridge outing. They had to get around by boat.

There was a story on the news this morning about how one guy rides his waverunner from one of the Puget Sound islands to downtown Seattle to work. He docks his waverunner and changes clothes every morning and then changes back to his wet suit when it's time to go home. The station determined the money saved and time saved. It was unbelievable. Something like $ 900 and 520 hours yearly.

Prthd119 wrote:LOL...should have seen us here on my island in 1989 when it actually snowed!
First time in 100 years!

They shut both bridges down for THREE days! at Christmas!

If you were shopping in Jacksonville or wherever? Tough..They did let people park and walk across.....We just aren't equipped to drive on snow and ice in Florida.....imagine that....

It was pretty cool! I dressed all my yard flamingo's in Santa hats and seasonal outfits...

I REMEMBER THAT YEAR!! My sister in law lives in Jacksonville. She was supposed to come to my house for Christmas but couldnt make it because of theicy roads & bridges!!! We hosed down the front yard (it is on a slight hill)to make it icy and the kids used big pieces of cardboard as sleds. (the closest they ever came to playing in snow!!) It was fun! BUT...the electric company used rolling black outs to conserve energy. So it was very difficult cooking!!!

ParrotHeadDeb wrote:

Prthd119 wrote:LOL...should have seen us here on my island in 1989 when it actually snowed!
First time in 100 years!

They shut both bridges down for THREE days! at Christmas!

If you were shopping in Jacksonville or wherever? Tough..They did let people park and walk across.....We just aren't equipped to drive on snow and ice in Florida.....imagine that....

It was pretty cool! I dressed all my yard flamingo's in Santa hats and seasonal outfits...

I REMEMBER THAT YEAR!! My sister in law lives in Jacksonville. She was supposed to come to my house for Christmas but couldnt make it because of theicy roads & bridges!!! We hosed down the front yard (it is on a slight hill)to make it icy and the kids used big pieces of cardboard as sleds. (the closest they ever came to playing in snow!!) It was fun! BUT...the electric company used rolling black outs to conserve energy. So it was very difficult cooking!!!

I remember that year very well too!! All the bridges INTO/OUT of FLorida were closed.... Coworkers could not get home..people could not get to work......it wwas interesting.....they wanted me to stay at work and I told them to BLEEP off....I had Mom and Dad and critters to take care of ... we had something like 3-5 inches of snow accumulated on the ground here. I am about an hour north up from Jax.

I don't know about Fernadina but it had had snowed here in the 70s....

Sam wrote:

ParrotHeadDeb wrote:

Prthd119 wrote:LOL...should have seen us here on my island in 1989 when it actually snowed!
First time in 100 years!

They shut both bridges down for THREE days! at Christmas!

If you were shopping in Jacksonville or wherever? Tough..They did let people park and walk across.....We just aren't equipped to drive on snow and ice in Florida.....imagine that....

It was pretty cool! I dressed all my yard flamingo's in Santa hats and seasonal outfits...

I REMEMBER THAT YEAR!! My sister in law lives in Jacksonville. She was supposed to come to my house for Christmas but couldnt make it because of theicy roads & bridges!!! We hosed down the front yard (it is on a slight hill)to make it icy and the kids used big pieces of cardboard as sleds. (the closest they ever came to playing in snow!!) It was fun! BUT...the electric company used rolling black outs to conserve energy. So it was very difficult cooking!!!

I remember that year very well too!! All the bridges INTO/OUT of FLorida were closed.... Coworkers could not get home..people could not get to work......it wwas interesting.....they wanted me to stay at work and I told them to BLEEP off....I had Mom and Dad and critters to take care of ... we had something like 3-5 inches of snow accumulated on the ground here. I am about an hour north up from Jax.

I don't know about Fernadina but it had had snowed here in the 70s....

I think that was January or February 1978..here in Central Florida. I had only been here 3 1/2 years and I was living in an upstairs apartment in an old house. I woke up in the morning, looked out the window at the one story home next door and there was SNOW on the rooftops. I couldnt believe it!!

jackiesic wrote:UGH.
They're talking about replacing the bridge here on Long Beach Island. As a full time resident with a business on the mainland I'm going to be *very* interested in the construction plan.

A new bridge for LBI. That will be interesting. My Grandparents had a house during my childhood and teenage years and we spent the whole summer and several off season weekends there. It was great.

For many years Atlantic City had no snow removal equiptment. Even now they have minimal because shore towns here rarely get snow. If Atlantic City gets snow the town shuts down. Brigantine bridge shuts down if there is snow or ice. For some reason the pitch of it makes it unpassable. Casino workers at Harrahs of who need to cross that bridge are regularly put up for the night if there is going to be snow or ice. They stay and work to make up for everybody on the next shift who can't get in.

OceanCityGirl wrote:For many years Atlantic City had no snow removal equiptment. Even now they have minimal because shore towns here rarely get snow. If Atlantic City gets snow the town shuts down. Brigantine bridge shuts down if there is snow or ice. For some reason the pitch of it makes it unpassable. Casino workers at Harrahs of who need to cross that bridge are regularly put up for the night if there is going to be snow or ice. They stay and work to make up for everybody on the next shift who can't get in.

It was a lot of fun here...Trust me, when it snows in Florida, and stays on the ground for THREE days??? It's fun.....
Kind of like a huge holiday...The fact that it coincided with Christmas made it all the better....Who'd have thought , a White Christmas , in Florida, on an island????

I was stationed up in Jax in '89 at Cecil Field. Was getting married (to my now ex) over in Ponte Vedra Beach on the 23rd. Got snowed out of my wedding as we couldn't get across the bridge. Had to check into the Marriott Courtyard by the Mayo Clinic and ended up getting married the next day, Chrismas Eve. An inch or two of snow and all the bridges get shut down...unreal.

I should have seen the signs. I should have known if I got snowed out of my wedding in Florida, something was wrong.

alpomatic wrote:

jackiesic wrote:UGH.
They're talking about replacing the bridge here on Long Beach Island. As a full time resident with a business on the mainland I'm going to be *very* interested in the construction plan.

A new bridge for LBI. That will be interesting. My Grandparents had a house during my childhood and teenage years and we spent the whole summer and several off season weekends there. It was great.

I love it here. I'm originally from land-locked KY so being near the ocean is like a dream come true. Do you remember which town your grandparent's home was in?
The island is changing even in the time I've been here. I don't even want to think about waht the next 20 years or so will bring.

I wouldn't want to move off my island. But when we you have a problem with your bridge you can see how fragile it is to be here. We in NJ are so complacent about hurricanes but they do brush by us every year. We could always take a direct hit. All it takes is for the winds to blow just right.