Pinellas Drawbridge Workers

The gates come down. Traffic stops. A sailboat that appears to be moving approximately 4 mph approaches the bridge.

And somewhere above you, inside that little room, a person is actually controlling the whole thing.

They're called bridge tenders — and Pinellas has more of them than you might realize.

THEY DON'T ALL WORK FOR THE SAME BOSS

Here's the interesting part.

At the Park Boulevard Bridge and Dunedin Causeway Bridge, the tenders aren't Pinellas County employees.

Pinellas County contracts with Janco FS3 LLC, doing business as Velociti Services, to provide bridge-tending services at both bridges 24 hours a day.

The price?

Up to $2,055,787 over five years.

That's roughly $411,000 per year to keep the two bridges staffed — although that contract amount covers the overall service, not simply employee salaries.

TREASURE ISLAND DOES IT DIFFERENTLY

Drive south to the Treasure Island Causeway, and the setup changes.

Treasure Island owns its causeway and hires its own city bridge tenders.

A 2025 City of Treasure Island job posting listed the part-time position at:

$15.00–$23.25 an hour.

And they're doing more than hitting the giant "LET THE BOAT THROUGH" button we imagine exists.

The City's job description includes watching approaching marine traffic, raising and lowering the bridge according to established procedures, keeping station in the bridge house, and performing light maintenance and cleaning.

THEN THERE ARE THE STATE BRIDGES

Several other familiar Pinellas drawbridges are associated with state highways, including the Indian Rocks Causeway (SR 688) and other Gulf Intracoastal crossings such as John's Pass and Corey Causeway.

Those aren't part of Pinellas County's $2.05 million bridge-tending contract.

And then there's tiny Beckett Bridge in Tarpon Springs. Pinellas County counts Beckett along with Park Boulevard and Dunedin as its three County movable bridges, but Beckett isn't included in the County's regular 24-hour bridge-tending contract covering Park and Dunedin.

In fact, the County has a completely separate contract for maintenance and emergency repairs on all three.

AND NO, BELLEAIR DOESN'T COUNT ANYMORE

If you're wondering about the Belleair Causeway, there's nobody sitting around waiting to raise that one.

The old drawbridge was replaced by the current high-level fixed bridge in 2009.

SO… WHAT'S IT ACTUALLY LIKE UP THERE?

That's what we want to know.

How many times do you raise the bridge during a shift?

What's the craziest thing you've seen?

Do angry drivers flip you off?

Is there a bathroom up there?

And perhaps most importantly: Do you have a TV?