On Christmas Eve, Friday, December 24, 2021, the Simpson Bay Bridge, one of Sint Maarten’s main arteries for motorists and shipping traffic, came to new life: After days of being lavishly decorated with thousands of lights, it now glows colorfully every evening. It is the first time the bridge has been decorated and lit for the Christmas season. There are also colored, interchangeable lights on the Causeway Bridge for the holidays.

The Simpson Bay and Causeway Bridges allows pedestrians in Sint Maarten to immerse themselves in a wonderland of lights during the evening hours that is simply fantastic. Many citizens are now calling for the installation to remain in place beyond the Christmas season.

The bridge gives many of the mega yachts and yachts entry into Simpson Bay Lagoon and is opened several times a day. It’s just fascinating to see the ships pass through this 17-meter narrowness and often enough, yes, property damage has occurred at the site.

See this video from December 2019:

It is also one of the reasons why there is afternoon traffic congestion on the way back from Maho Beach to Philipsburg on days with cruise ships, as it opens at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., and depending on how many ships want to get out, or in, it stays up for up to 20 minutes and the “back-to-the-ship” traffic then backs up.

Simpson Bay Bridge opening hours:
8:30 a.m. Outbound traffic
9:30 a.m. Inbound traffic
10:30 a.m. Outbound traffic
11:30 a.m. Inbound traffic
3:00 p.m. Inbound traffic
16.00 Outgoing traffic
5.00 Arriving traffic

Height closed: 2.4 m
(average, depending on tides).
Width: 17.0 m
Controlled depth: 6.0 m
VHF: 12
Phone: +1-721 545-5230 or +1-721- 545-3183

source https://www.portstmaarten.com/index.php