site map    ►feel suicidal?
bottom of page  •  contact 		bullshit facebook
 

skyway bridge articles

non-jumper skyway articles, 2021 to current.
updated: 05.13.24

links could be broken at any time. (our comments follow)
..
05.13.24 Lights on Skyway Bridge won’t show rainbow colors for Pride Month. Why?
05.13.24, tampabay.com, A Manatee County commissioner disapproved of Pride and gun violence recognition. Instead, the state will have three months of patriotic lights on the bridge it is calling "freedom summer."
ST. PETERSBURG — For the past three years, the Sunshine Skyway bridge has had a vibrant rainbow light display for one week in June to honor Pride Month. But that won’t be the case this year due to a single Manatee County commissioner who has expressed disapproval of requests for light displays honoring Pride and Gun Violence Awareness Day.
The Florida Department of Transportation gets many requests for special light displays. The bridge lit up in blue and yellow to honor Ukraine, flashed blue and white lights to support Israel and has changed hues on special days to raise awareness for breast cancer, autism and mental health.
The FDOT made no public announcement about the Manatee County objection, which came from Commission Chairman Mike Rahn. Instead, the agency announced that for 2024 it will have a display of red, white and blue lights on bridges that will run all summer, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. And it’s not just the Skyway. All Florida bridges will be draped in patriotic colors for the summer, so no Pride bridge lighting elsewhere either in June.
That will not only wipe out the Pride rainbow lights, but other special days like Juneteenth and Mental Health Awareness Day will also go unrecognized because of the new lighting plan.
Because the Skyway touches Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, the FDOT has made it policy that light displays have to be approved by all three county commissions. They want to be assured any display has broad community support.
In a Feb. 13 email from the office of Manatee County Administrator Charlie Bishop, administrators were informed that Rahn approved of displays for the Alzheimer’s Foundation, National Ovarian Cancer Month and others, but the chairman "will not be approving lighting of the Skyway for Pride Month or National Gun Violence Awareness Day."
The email led to confusion: It’s been long-standing policy that it takes a vote of the county commission, not a single member, to give FDOT approval. Jim Nixon, the city of St. Petersburg’s LGBTQ+ liaison, outlined his concern in a series of emails to FDOT and Rahn. He received little to no reply or explanation in the following weeks.
Rahn responded on Feb. 22 and appeared to hand off the issue, saying in a one-sentence reply that it should be up to "FDOT approval solely" because "the bridge is controlled by FDOT."
In an email to the Tampa Bay Times this week, Rahn said, "I do not have the authority to override the governor of the state Florida. However, in my opinion, the lighting of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is a FDOT matter and should not be left with to the individual counties."
Nixon kept up the calls and emails for further explanation about Pride lighting. He got no response other than Rahn’s assistant Derrick Evans writing on April 15: "My directive is not to have any correspondence with this request."
Nixon then made a formal request to FDOT on April 30 to approve the Pride Month lighting, noting that Rahn had violated the agency’s policy. But he received no reply or explanation.
A week later, on May 8, FDOT Secretary Jared Perdue posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that all Florida bridges will be illuminated in red, white and blue from Memorial Day through Labor Day in celebration of "freedom summer," the July sales tax holiday signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that will make outdoor recreation equipment and admission to state parks and museums free from sales tax. DeSantis also announced that state parks will offer free admission over Memorial Day weekend (May 24-27).
As Floridians prepare for Freedom Summer, Florida's bridges will follow suit, illuminating in red, white, and blue from Memorial Day through Labor Day!
Thanks to the leadership of @GovRonDeSantis, Florida continues to be the freest state in the nation. https://t.co/FG892hO5zE,  pic.twitter.com
— Jared W. Perdue, P.E. (@FDOT_Secretary) May 8, 2024
St. Pete Pride and city officials were mystified, since the sales tax holiday only happens in the month of July.
"It’s more like they didn’t want to make a decision," Nixon said. "We had proven Manatee was in violation and rather than upset either the county or the state, they made a change in lighting up the Skyway."
By installing a patriotic light display that will run for months, all the different displays that had been planned for the summer were scrubbed, including ones honoring Mental Health Awareness (May 28-31), Juneteenth (June 19) and Ovarian Cancer Awareness (Sept. 1-7). Others that were close to getting approval were Sickle Cell Awareness Day (June 18), World Fragile X Day for autism (July 22) and Pride (June 20-28).
And since this is statewide, Jacksonville’s Acosta Bridge and Sarasota’s Ringling Causeway, which fought hard in 2021 to get FDOT to reverse its lighting policy, won’t get Pride lighting this year either.
Calls and emails to Manatee County commissioners and administrators by the Tampa Bay Times have been unanswered, except for one, from County Commissioner George W. Kruse, who said: "This is literally the first I’m hearing of this." He said he was going to do some investigating of his own to find out what happened, but added, "I find this disturbing and incredibly unfortunate if true."
Byron Green-Calisch, president of St. Pete Pride, said he was "disheartened" not only by the denial of a Pride week but Gun Violence Awareness Day.
"The queer community has been plagued with gun violence and so has the rest of Florida, from Pulse (nightclub shooting in Orlando) to Parkland (school shooting in South Florida). We need to remember those victims, so that hurts my heart to hear."
The Skyway is a staple symbol of Tampa Bay, Green-Calisch said, and he was thrilled that Pride had a dynamic rainbow display on one of the area’s largest stages. He said it also bugs him that the FDOT secretary cast the summerlong display as a show of patriotism.
"Pride is the prime example of what patriotism is, the release of government tyranny," Green-Calisch said. "To have a place to live free, where every man and woman is created equal and imbued with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When I say I’m patriotic, that’s what I mean."
The Skyway bridge’s $15 million light system flickered on at the end of 2019 with over 1,800 LED lights. It has allowed special themed light displays that run for a day or a week but it has never put up a light display that ran for months like the "freedom summer" display will.
In 2020, FDOT denied St. Pete Pride’s request for a rainbow light display, along with other Pride requests for bridges across the state. It said at the time its light system was unable to display more than three colors at a time, and state policy limited the causes and holidays it could celebrate.
Statewide outrage caused the agency to reverse course and, in 2021, it began allowing rainbow displays on lighted bridges for Pride Month if the local county commissions approve them. St. Pete Pride has a month of activities and holds one of the country’s largest LGBTQ+ parades. Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, the local tourism promotion bureau and a major sponsor of St. Pete Pride, said the city’s largest event in 2023 had a total economic impact of more than $60.7 million, bringing in $3.5 million in tax revenue.
St. Pete Pride has twice paid the $700 needed to improve the Skyway computer program that controls the light show over the last three years. The theme runs over four minutes and is dynamic, switching from vibrant rainbow colors to the subdued light blue and pink colors of the transgender flag. The colors move and, at times, race across the bridge.
Despite the disappointment, there will be many other local displays honoring Pride Month, said Eric Vaughan, St. Petersburg’s newly appointed LGBTQ+ liaison. There will be the annual Light Up With Pride day on June 1, when museums and buildings across the area will have rainbow lights. There are also numerous murals and signs in windows and banners hanging from buildings.
He said his focus going forward will be to build up public support for all three county commissions to again approve a Pride display on the Skyway bridge.
"Now we know the hands we are dealt and we will get started early this year," Vaughan said. "I’m optimistic we can have some wins next year." (the rainbow mafia is not pleased. prediction: eventual capitulation.)
.
07.07.23: florida turnpike quietly raises tolls for skyway bridge.
07.07.23, wfla.com, TAMPA, Fla., Expect less savings when crossing over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge after the Florida Turnpike quietly raised toll rates on July 1.
Drivers making the trek in a standard two-axle vehicle can expect to pay $1.75 in cash. Three-axle vehicles now pay $3.50, four-axle vehicles pay $5.25, and five-axle vehicles pay $7.
Florida Turnpike officials told WFLA.com the state is required to index the toll rates every five years based on the annual CPI (Consumer Price Index).
"By law, this adjustment was required to take effect on July 1, 2023," FDOT said.
Vehicles equipped with a SunPass save 33.7% off the cash price, so two-axle vehicles would pay $1.16, three-axle vehicles pay $2.32, four-axle vehicles pay $3.48, and five-axle vehicles pay $4.64.
The news comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis touted his "Toll Relief Program," which was introduced and enacted by the Florida Legislature on Jan. 1, 2023. The year-long program automatically gives SunPass users with at least 35 monthly toll transactions a 50% toll credit to their account.
In its latest saving report, the Florida Department of Transportation said more than $190 million in Toll Relief credits have been issued benefiting 1.2 million Floridians.
.
03.12.23: 6th annual Skyway 10K, skyway10k.com  •  facebook/skyway10k
03.10.23, wfla.com, More security in place for Skyway 10K, 1 year after near-tragedy.
MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — On March 6, 2022, thousands of runners took on the Skyway 10K.
That’s when Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Toni Schuck heard over the radio that a driver had slammed through the barricades and was heading her direction at about 100 mph. There she was, the "last line of defense" between a suspected drunken driver and thousands of runners.
Schuck crashed into the vehicle head on, saving thousands of lives. (thousands? literally at least 2000 or more? hello, fact checker?)
"It’s my job and I felt like I did what I had to do," Schuck said in June.
Now, as runners gear up for the Skyway 10K Sunday, officials say things will be different this year.
"We are honoring Toni Schuck by having her be the lead patrol car starting out the event," said Creative Director Niki Austin. "Additionally, we do want runners to know we have added more security measures; we’ve worked with FHP and the other agencies to make sure nothing like that could ever happen again."
Austin says they’re keeping the race safe, and it’s all for a good cause.
100% of the race registration fees go to the Armed Forces Families Foundation, a non-profit in Clearwater.
"In 2022, we raised $652,000, so very proud of that accomplishment," Austin said. "We take that money and it goes back into our community funding infrastructure projects that benefit military families."
The northbound lanes of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge will be closed Sunday from 3:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. The southbound lanes will remain open throughout the duration of the race. Daylight Savings Time switches over at 2 a.m., so officials are asking runners to plan accordingly.
Runners are being asked to arrive at least one-hour prior to their designated bus wave time for bus loading at Tropicana Field.

03.10.23, wtsp.com, Sunshine Skyway Bridge closing Sunday morning ahead of Skyway 10K.
About 8,000 people will take part in the 6.2-mile event, part of which spans the bridge.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — If you're needing to travel between Pinellas and Manatee counties this weekend and you're thinking of using the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, you may need to find an alternate route.
The northbound lanes of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge will close at 3:30 a.m. on March 12 to make way for about 8,000 participants of all abilities to take part in the sixth annual Skyway 10K.
This means if you're trying to get from Manatee County to Pinellas County Sunday morning, you'll want to avoid the bridge and find a way around.
You can also take a long morning and recover from losing an hour of sleep after "springing forward" for daylight saving time.
That's because the Skyway Bridge is expected to reopen at 11 a.m. "sharp," according to Skyway 10K organizers.
It's important to note southbound lanes of the Skyway Bridge will remain open throughout the northbound closure.
What is the Skyway 10K?
The Skyway 10K is a 6.2-mile course that includes a span of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
The Skyway 10K benefits the Armed Forces Families Foundation, "which specializes in funding permanent or semi-permanent structures and renovations to establishments that support military families."
All proceeds from the event go toward financing for infrastructure projects on military bases and military-friendly institutions.
To date, the race has raised more than $2.6 million for the AFFF.
10 Tampa Bay is a proud sponsor of this event, and we'll be there to cheer you on and provide live coverage of the race.
.
02.14.23: proposal to curb bird deaths at skyway pier falls short
02.14.23, biologicaldiversity.org, More Than 2,000 Birds Hooked, Entangled at Skyway in Past Two Years
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced proposed regulations today to address bird deaths and injuries at the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier State Park. The move comes after nonprofit rescuers, wildlife groups and academics highlighted the thousands of birds rescued from entanglement at the pier over the past two years.
"These half-measures fail to truly address the dire situation faced by the thousands of Bay-area birds being entangled and hooked at the Skyway Pier," said Elise Bennett, Florida director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "It’s a shame we have to push so hard to get our conservation commission to prevent the inhumane and wasteful deaths of pelicans and other beautiful coastal birds here in Tampa Bay. We urge the commission to strengthen these protections before finalizing the rule."
The commission’s current proposed rule for the Skyway Pier would impose an annual education requirement, prohibit the use of fishing rigs with more than one hook or multiple hooks from November through March, limit anglers to two sets of hook-and-line gear, and prohibit the use of sabiki rigs year-round on the north end of the south fishing pier. If the measure is approved, commission staff recommend revisiting the rules after two years to determine whether they should be revised.
The Center and Friends of the Pelicans are urging the commission to work with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which operates the pier, to adopt a stronger suite of protections. Those include hiring multiple full-time bird rescuers, limiting anglers to using one or two poles at a time and requiring that they be attended, and prohibiting multiple-hook gear pier-wide and year-round.
If those measures fail to significantly reduce harm, Florida wildlife officials should consider permanently or seasonally closing the north end of the south pier, where harmful entanglements are most frequent, the groups say.
"We are very disappointed that, so far, Florida wildlife officials are unwilling to give pelicans the protections they need," said Jeanette Edwards, founder of Friends of the Pelicans. "We’re particularly concerned that the agency is only proposing protections for part of the year. Pelicans are hooked and killed all year long at the Skyway Pier and thus require year-long safeguards."
Over the past two years, volunteers with Friends of the Pelicans have rescued more than 2,300 birds. They have witnessed even more injured or dead birds at the pier and in nearby rookeries. A peer-reviewed study of the Skyway piers and two other nearby piers found that more than 7% of brown pelicans observed were entangled in fishing gear.
The large number of birds injured and killed at the pier, which is close to important coastal rookeries at the Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuge, could cause declines in the estuary’s bird populations.
Today’s regulatory proposal follows a letter sent by conservation groups to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in December 2022. The letter urged the federal agency to enforce the Migratory Bird Treaty Act if Florida doesn’t swiftly and effectively rein in threats to protected coastal birds at the pier. The letter was submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Pelicans, Friends of the Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuges, Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Humane Society of the United States and American Bird Conservancy.
Wildlife commissioners will receive public comment and decide whether to approve the proposed rule for publication during their meeting on Feb. 21, 2023, in Jacksonville, Florida. Written comments may be submitted ahead of the meeting via the online commenting portal by 5 p.m. Eastern on Feb. 16, 2023.
Background
The Skyway fishing pier consists of the remains of the former Sunshine Skyway Bridge, which partially collapsed during a vessel collision in 1980. After renovating the bridge’s remaining portions, the Florida Department of Transportation leased it in 1994 to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to administer as a state park.
Because of its unique size and height, the Skyway fishing pier is deadlier to birds than any another other pier in the state. The pier’s length and height make it difficult to rescue hooked or entangled birds. Without assistance from trained rescuers, anglers often cut the line, a likely death sentence for the bird.
When anglers use multiple fishing poles, lines extending as far as 150 feet from the pier create a maze for coastal birds to navigate, often causing them to pull fishing poles entirely into the water. Gear with multiple hooks can leave gashes and tears in pelicans’ pouches and sever tendons and ligaments, which may require surgery or euthanasia.
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act was enacted in 1918 to implement the United States’ international treaty commitments to protect populations of migratory birds. Its provisions prohibit the purposeful and incidental take of migratory birds without prior authorization from the Fish and Wildlife Service. The Tampa Bay Estuary is home to many species of pelican, gull, egret, heron and other coastal birds protected under the Act.
Bird populations in North America are plummeting, with 3 billion birds having disappeared from the continent since 1970.
.
03.06.22: the skyway 10k • vehicle accident
03.06.22, fox13news.com, Runners return to Skyway Bridge for 10K race.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - After being moved online last year, 8,000 runners laced up their shoes Sunday morning and returned to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge to compete in the fifth annual Skyway 10K to raise money for military families.
Runners began boarding buses at 4:45 a.m. at Tropicana Stadium and were driven to the start line, which was in Manatee County.
Northbound traffic on the Sunshine Skyway was closed from 3 to 11 a.m. on Sunday. However, a 52-year-old Sarasota woman, who was later arrested for DUI, drove around the barriers and crashed nearly head-on with a trooper protecting runners around 8:45 a.m. She and the trooped both suffered serious injuries in the crash.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, no runners were injured in the incident.
Including the money raised on Sunday, the race has raised nearly $2 million for the Armed Forces Families Foundation over the past five years.
"We all know the sacrifices that our military make and if you work these veterans as I do, you hear the stories, you feel, it’s very compelling to be part of this event, you want to give back, this is our one chance I feel like we can really make a difference and we can give back," stated Nikki Austin with the Armed Forces Family Foundation.
The race costs $80 per person and runners were selected via lottery to participate. Organizers say 100 percent of the proceeds goes back to the foundation.
Since 2018, the Armed Forces Families Foundation says it has given nearly $2 million to the community for infrastructure projects that benefit military families.
The runners say they were happy to be back on the bridge this year after having the race go virtual in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

skyway10k.com  •  facebook/skyway10k
.
10.08.21: The Skyway 10K is set to resume next year, in person.
10.08.21, bradenton.com, Though, the race across the Skyway Bridge in St. Petersburg, Florida, doesn’t take place for five months, registration is limited and begins soon. Starting Oct. 18, runners can register on Skyway10K.com under a lottery system. That system closes Oct. 24 at 11:59 p.m. and the lottery winners will get notified by Oct. 28, the news release said.
Participants have to arrive at Tropicana Field, home to the defending American League champion Tampa Bay Rays, where they’ll be transported by buses to the south end of the Skyway Bridge. Once runners complete the 10K to the north side of the bridge, they’ll board buses for transport back to Tropicana Field.
The general admission registration cost is $80 per person and is non-refundable. A VIP registration fee costs $300 per person and includes extras such as free food and drinks, VIP restrooms, a gaming area, and VIP swag at the VIP tent throughout race weekend, according to the release.
.
02.09.21: 4th annual skyway 10k race goes virtual this year amid panicdemic.
02.09.21, wfla.com, ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) - The 4th annual Skyway 10K, which benefits the Armed Forces Families Foundation, will be virtual instead of in-person this year, race organizers announced Tuesday.
"Due to COVID-19, our priority is the safety and well-being of our participants, volunteers, and staff," said Nick Peters, executive director of the Armed Forces Families Foundation. "While we won’t be able to take in the extraordinary views from the top of the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge this year, we’re hopeful that people will be excited to participate in this event virtually and safely support our armed forces and their families."
The race, which normally takes place on the northbound lanes of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, will now take place in a virtual format from March 6 to March 31. Runners will be able to print off a 2021 race bib. They can run the race on their treadmill or anywhere that pedestrians are legally allowed to run. They won’t be allowed on limited access roadways such as Interstate 275 and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Runners will need to print off a completion certificate to receive their medal and a shirt.
Registration for the race will open on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 10 a.m. The fee is $55.
The first 2,000 registrants will be able to bypass next year’s lottery system and register for the Skyway 10K in 2022.
The race benefits the Armed Forces Families Foundation, which has raised more than $4.8 million to benefit military families to date.

skyway10k.com  •  facebook/skyway10k
.
 
site map  •  contact  •  top of page  ►feel suicidal?