A central section of the earlier causeway was removed and renamed the Queen Isabella State Fishing Pier.

On August 13, 1996, at 6:22 p.m., while maneuvering near Port Isabel, a Cessna TR182 collided with the causeway, killing both the pilot-in-command and the pilot-rated passenger.

Texas Department of Public Safety divers located the fuselage submerged on the west side of the column in approximately 8 to 10 feet (2.4 to 3.0 m) of water.

[3] In the early morning of September 15, 2001, four loaded barges crashed into one of the Queen Isabella Causeway's support columns traveling at 0.2 miles per hour (0.32 km/h).

[6] News and discussion of the collapse was mostly confined to local and regional sources due to the September 11, 2001 attacks four days earlier.

[9][4] Two years after the reopening, the causeway was renamed to the Queen Isabella Memorial Bridge to honor the victims of the accident.