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The Sunshine Skyway goes red, white and blue

FDOT engineers switched on a patriotic theme in a colorful tribute to veterans.
 
Published Nov. 11, 2019|Updated Nov. 12, 2019

If you were within sight of the Sunshine Skyway bridge last night or this morning, you couldn’t have missed it. And if you weren’t in the area, you should have been. The columns shimmered in red and white, while the deck was cast in blue. White lights twinkled along the roadway.

The Florida Department of Transportation used its new, $15 million lighting system on the bridge to commemorate Veterans Day. The agency installed about 1,800 colored LED light fixtures on the bridge earlier this year.

This isn’t the first time FDOT has given a nod to a special day — the bridge was illuminated in pink for breast cancer awareness month in October.

Tiffany Stalker of Bradenton was out enjoying the weather with her kids when she snapped the photo used in this story.

“It was a beautiful sight to see,” Stalker said. She added that she was grateful to live in a community that honors its veterans.

While it’s not clear if FDOT maintains a definitive list of holidays that will get a similar treatment, Stalker offered up an idea of her own.

“If we could just figure out how to light it up purple for the American Cancer Society event in April, that would be amazing.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story identified August as breast cancer awareness month. October is breast cancer awareness month.