Acosta Bridge

The St. Elmo W. Acosta Bridge Bridge spans the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida on a fixed span. It was named for City Councilman St. Elmo W. Acosta, who convinced voters to approve a $950,000 bond issue for the original bridge. It carries SR 13 (six lanes) with the two-track Jacksonville Skyway in the median. Prior to its replacement in 1991, the bridge, originally called St. Johns River Bridge, opened in 1921 and carried three lanes (center one reversible) on a lift bridge of similar design to the Main Street Bridge but was known as the Yellow Monster, largely for its tendency to stick in the upward position. Tolls were charged until 1940, earning more than $4 million for the City of Jacksonville. At some time in 1991, the original bridge was closed to allow construction of the new one to proceed.Despite being a freeway, bicycles are permitted on the main lanes of the bridge.The Acosta Bridge is also notable because of the blue neon lights that illuminate it at night. Although as of 2/11/2015, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority has announced that they'll "be off indefinitely with no return date on the books" citing a lack of funding for repairs.North (downtown) approachThe original north approach was a T-shaped viaduct, with the bridge ending at Riverside Avenue . Just southwest of the Acosta Bridge, Riverside Avenue passed over the adjacent Florida East Coast Railway bridge approach.