The end of the line may be near for any hopes of saving the Friendship Trail Bridge.
Pinellas County commissioners are expected to set aside more than $500,000 this week to put towards the cost of demolishing the unused bridge.
According to Bay News 9's partner newspaper the Tampa Bay Times, that money is the last portion of the $8 million needed to tear down the bridge.
The bridge - the original Gandy Bridge spanning Old Tampa Bay - was officially shut down in December 2008 because it was deemed unsafe by engineers. Bridge problems include corrosion, missing concrete and broken steel reinforcement bars.
The bridge has sat decaying from age and abandonment. In the nine years before it closed, the structure was used by thousands of Bay area residents to run, walk, cycle and fish.
Even with the vote scheduled for Tuesday, there is still an ongoing effort to save the bridge.
The group hoping to save the bridge announced a plan two weeks ago to raise $13.7 million over the next eight months to tear down the surface of the bridge except for the hump and the infrastructure, and replace it with a 16-foot wide pedestrian walkway.
Still, Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch said Tuesday's vote and resulting decision won't automatically doom the bridge because it only puts the money in place to use once a bid is awarded.
- Tune to Bay News 9 at 12:30 p.m. today for an in-depth look what the group would like to do with the decaying bridge.