PORT ST. LUCIE – The City of Port St. Lucie is proud to announce the grand opening for the new Crosstown Parkway bridge will take place Sept. 28, 2019 with a celebration that will give all residents a chance to be among the first to experience the bridge first-hand.

The end of the construction for the Crosstown Parkway Extension Project marks a new beginning for the City of Port St. Lucie. City leaders have worked diligently since 1980 to make this corridor a reality. City staff is planning a fun event on the new bridge that will allow the entire community to come together to celebrate this significant event, decades in the making.

“Our long-awaited Bridge is going to make our lives in PSL even better. Getting around town will be easier, emergency response times will be faster, our economy will be bigger, and it is even bringing us new parks,” Mayor Gregory J. Oravec said. “These substantive improvements in our quality of life are only being realized because you and our community dared to dream, and then stuck with that dream, through thick and thin, economic ups and downs, and legal challenges; because of champions, council members and partners who were willing to contribute their blood, sweat and tears; because of an exceptional bridge building contractor; because our taxpayers said, ‘yes, we will pay for that’, and because, more than anything, when 89 percent of the voters agree on something, there is nothing we can’t do.”

The Crosstown grand opening celebration will be dependent on support from the community and businesses. The City has created a sponsorship program that gives those who want to participate a variety of options. The event is expected to have high interest from residents and draw thousands of attendees. Potential activities for the Community Celebration and Block Party include: food trucks, live music, kids zone, parade, ribbon cutting ceremony, classic car show and fireworks show.

Those interested in sponsoring the celebration can find more details at www.cityofpsl.com/crosstown.

The Crosstown Parkway Extension Project will provide Port St. Lucie’s third bridge crossing over the North Fork of the St. Lucie River, connecting the existing Crosstown Parkway from Manth Lane to U.S. 1. The project extends along the existing West Virginia Drive, crossing over the North Fork of the St. Lucie River and connecting into U.S. 1 at Village Green Drive. The project is approximately two miles with the bridge being approximately 4,000 feet. The six- lane divided highway and bridge will serve as a transportation alternative to include accommodations for automobile, bicycle, pedestrian and public transit, along with providing a new emergency evacuation route over the river.