Pelican Island Bridge to Be Replaced    

The Pelican Island Causeway Bridge is a vital part of the one road leading to and from Pelican Island. Over 2,000 people--students, faculty, and staff--depend on this bridge to travel between Galveston and Pelican Island.

The bridge was originally opened in the year of 1960. A bascule bridge, it is now the last bridge of its kind in Texas.

According to Colonel Fossum, the impending replacement of the bridge became a topic of discussion about 25 years ago. But for the last 5 years, campus communities and city officials have observed the bridge’s condition becoming both increasingly outdated and deteriorated. However, progress being made on setting the replacement’s construction in motion has been gradual.

The cost of the planned bridge’s structure, along with matters of land ownership and the ownership of the road itself,  have presented the most significant obstacles in the process of replacing the bridge with an alternate route to Pelican Island. Both the demolition of the current bridge and the full construction of the new one have presented demanding prospects in terms of resources and financial responsibility to involved entities, the most prominent of which are Galveston County, Port Houston, City of Galveston, Texas A&M University, Galveston County Navigation District no. 1, and the Port of Galveston.

Galveston City Council recently released a memorandum of understanding describing the plan for the new bridge’s construction. The Houston Chronicle has helpfully reported on the bridge’s replacement as well.

“This is a very necessary step for our campus,” Colonel Fossum stated in an interview, after describing the many benefits the new bridge will help provide for TAMUG’s students and campus grounds. “It will not only be safer but one of the things the bridge will definitely be is wider. So there will be less issues with traffic, redirecting traffic when trucks carrying wide loads are passing through…also, a lot of hazardous cargo carried on trucks passes from the current bridge close to our campus. The route I want will put a lot more distance between that hazardous cargo and buildings our students are in.”

Colonel Fossum also shared his hope of buying the land around where the bridge would connect to Pelican island, explaining this would provide an opportunity for the campus grounds to expand, particularly for recreational purposes. Additionally, the colonel was happy to share that the new bridge will include a complete bicycle and pedestrian lane.

A time frame for the new bridge’s construction will be estimated once all parties can agree on the funding, location, and direction of the project. Colonel Fossum anticipates an update on an environmental survey to be conducted over the land that the bridge will be connected to on Pelican Island.

Colonel Fossum wished to make known that the completion of the bridge would also be honoring the wishes of departed friends Ken Clarke and John Otto, both of whom he also wants to honor and remember with the publication of this story.