The goal is to finish that by the end of 2023. The rest of the repairs and Lee County Causeway Island improvement projects will be done sometime in 2024. Right now the price tag is nearly $340 million. It's mostly funded by The Federal Highway Administration, but Lee County is on the hook for about $51 million.

The permanent reconstruction of the Sanibel Causeway following the catastrophic damage from Hurricane Ian in 2022 was a multi-year project that reached a major milestone in late 2025. While emergency repairs restored basic access within just 15 days of the storm, the "permanent" rebuild involved a more resilient design featuring sheet-pile walls and armored bridge approaches to protect against future storm surges. As of February 2026, the causeway is fully operational with its new, enhanced safety features. The "Causeway Islands Park," which sits between the bridge spans, officially reopened to the public in May 2025, providing over 800 free parking spaces and restored beach access. While construction of permanent restroom facilities and additional landscaping continues through early 2026, the primary infrastructure of the causeway is considered complete, signifying a successful transition from emergency recovery to long-term regional resilience.