major growth in the early 1970s leading to Sanibel's incorporation into Lee County's third city, which took place on November 5, 1974. Former congressman and CIA director Porter Goss served as Sanibel's first mayor. By the early 1990s, the original bridges began showing signs of rapid deterioration due to the bay's saltwater, prompting the county to make major repairs. As a result, Lee County briefly proposed the idea of replacing the bridges with a single four-lane high-span bridge. This idea was abandoned due to opposition from island residents. Further repairs were made in 1997 as rapid deterioration from overall lack of maintenance and saltwater corrosion continued. In 2001, the county made plans to replace Bridges B and C, and make major repairs to Bridge A (the drawbridge). In early 2003, during a routine inspection, severe cracks were discovered underneath a deck section on Bridge B. After this discovery, all three of the bridges were very closely monitored, and the damaged section was braced with additional steel pilings. Bridge B's speed limit was temporarily lowered to , and the rest of the causeway's speed limit was lowered to . A temporary 10-ton weight limit was put in place. Lee County determined that the deck section needed to be completely replaced as soon as possible. After extensive preparations, the causeway was shut down all day on January 20, 2003. The deck section was replaced with a steel grate section. The replacement was completed quickly, and the causeway re-opened ahead of schedule. After this turn of events, Lee County reexamined its original plan for rehabilitating Bridge A (the drawbridge), and concluded that all three of the bridges needed to be replaced as soon as possible. Once it was decided to replace the drawbridge, a debate commenced on replacing it with another drawbridge versus a high-span bridge. The county wanted a high-span, while a number of Sanibel residents wanted another drawbridge. Shortly before construction was set to begin on the high-span bridge, the city filed a lawsuit against Lee County in an attempt to stop construction. Sanibel claimed that Lee County did not maintain the bridges properly, and used the toll revenue for other road projects. Lee County then filed a counter lawsuit, claiming Sanibel was interfering with construction. A second lawsuit against Lee County was filed by a group of Sanibel residents who created a non-profit organization called "Save Our Bay, Inc." All