Delaware Governor Jack Markell, U.S. Senator Tom Carper, and DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt rode in the first car across the bridge. On January 30, 2012, one northbound lane of the new bridge opened. On May 6, 2012, the Indian River Inlet Bridge was officially dedicated in a public ceremony in which visitors were able to walk across the bridge. All remaining lanes of the four-lane bridge as well as its pedestrian and bicycle walkway opened that day. Demolition of the 1965 bridge and its 1976 addition began in the spring of 2012 and was completed in the spring of 2013.