The 2.5-mile (4.0 km) causeway crosses Gasparilla Sound and consists of three bridges, and is the only vehicular access to the island.

The Boca Grande Causeway originally opened in 1958 after six years of construction, replacing a vehicle ferry service.

The causeway and its original bridges were built parallel to the now abandoned Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway.

Passenger rail service to the island was discontinued by the railroad shortly after the causeway opened.

While the railroad was abandoned in 1981, the adjacent trestles remain mostly intact today and are visible from the causeway.