The only way to get to lovely Little Deer Isle and Deer Isle, Maine, is by this high, narrow suspension bridge. That’s assuming that you don’t want to take a boat, or private plane, or swim there.
The bridge is the historic Deer Isle-Sedgwick Bridge, which was opened in 1939 after having many design- and construction-related issues. It takes a beating from rough weather and seems to be undergoing traffic-stopping or traffic-slowing repairs most of the time, as it is at this moment.
The old Bridge is almost 1,100 feet long with only two travel lanes that have nothing between them but two yellow stripes. Each lane is only about 10 feet wide; there are no public walkways and no bicycle lanes, although cyclists have been known to ride over the bridge and be another cause of slowdowns.
“The Bridge” spans Eggemoggin Reach, some of the best sailing water in the world. Because of this, it was designed with an arch that has a minimum under-clearance of 85 feet to accommodate masts on schooners and other vessels; the roadway is over 98 feet above the windy Reach.
That wind makes the narrow Bridge shiver and sway at times, which some motorists (especially unsuspecting tourists) find petrifying. There also can be issues with dense fog.
Yet, the Deer Isle Bridge is beloved by many of us around here. We’ve grown accustomed to it, as you might with an impossibly cranky old relative who is beloved. We can’t imagine The Bridge being replaced by something modern, sturdy, comfortably wide, and maintenance-friendly. (Images taken from Little Deer Isle on August 24, 2021.)