Dunedin Causeway, Dunedin
Constructed in 1963, the Dunedin Causeway connects Honeymoon Island with Dunedin. The Dunedin Causeway is owned and maintained by Pinellas County as well as two other drawbridges, the Park Blvd. Bridge and the Beckett Bridge, and what used to be a drawbridge is now a fixed high level bridge, the Belleair Causeway.
On Honeymoon Island sits two condominium high rises; the majority of the island is part of the Honeymoon Island State Park which offers pristine beaches and a connection via ferry to nearby Caladesi Island State Park. Both state parks make a nice destination for a day trip, whether you like the beach or want to appreciate the nature of Caladesi Island. After all, Honeymoon Island and Ft. DeSoto Park are two pristine beaches where you don't have these towering high rise condominiums altering your view.
For boaters headed north on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, this is the last drawbridge boaters have to encounter before headed out into the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This is the beginning of what is referred to as the "missing link" where boaters used to the calmer waters of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway are subjected to the extreme conditions of the open gulf. However, there are some harbors along the way, especially Tarpon Springs northward. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway picks up again in the Florida panhandle somewhere near Apalachicola.
More recently access to the Honeymoon Island State Park was enhanced with a spur extension of the Pinellas Trail, a walking trail on an old railroad bed running the length of Pinellas County from downtown Tarpon Springs to downtown St. Petersburg. The sidewalk on the south side of the Dunedin Causeway was widened and the section over the drawbridge is improved without the grid deck on the walkway.
As the Dunedin Causeway is not a heavily opened bridge, the drawbridge opens on demand.
