LONGBOAT KEY – Members of the Coalition of Barrier Island Elected Officials (BIEO) discussed the proposed new Longboat Pass Bridge on April 17.
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District One has initiated a project development and environment study for SR 789 (Gulf Drive/Gulf of Mexico Drive) from North Shore Road on Longboat Key to the Coquina Beach entrance in Bradenton Beach.
“The study will evaluate alternatives to replace the existing SR 789 bridge over Longboat Pass. Alternatives to be evaluated will include rehabilitation of the existing bridge, a new high-level fixed bridge and moveable bridge,” according to FDOT.
“There are three options, with challenges and opportunities to each,” Longboat Key Town Manager Howard Tipton said. “There’s one that’s too tall, one that’s too low and one that’s just right. We’re hoping it’s just right.”
The Longboat Pass Bridge was built in 1957 and renovated in 2005 and 2020. The bridge is classified as functionally obsolete due to substandard shoulders and traffic barriers, according to FDOT.
If constructed, a new bridge is planned to be wider than the existing bridge to provide safer accommodations for bicyclists and pedestrians. Additional travel lanes for vehicles are not being proposed.
Tipton said the new bridge would be moved to the west and closer to condominiums at the north end of Longboat Key.
“That’s understandable because that’s where their (FDOT’s) right-of-way is,” he said. “It does impact condominiums at the very north end of town and brings it from 120 feet or so to about 30 feet, so it’ll be up close and personal, and we want to try to work with them as much as we can for sound mitigation.”
Tipton said the new bridge will allow improved traffic flow.
“We had a meeting with the MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) last week and we talked about the corridor from Cortez coming south to Longboat. And now it is a longer trip than anyone would expect,” he said. “The MPO is looking to circle back around and look at the bare ground of the traffic study.”
He said the traffic not only impacts residents and visitors but also those who work in Longboat Key.
“One of the hardest things for workers is let’s say they get hired in July and once season starts, they say, ‘I didn’t sign up for this’ and we lose folks that way,” Tipton said. “It’s the restaurants, it’s the hotels, it’s everybody.”
The issue of traffic also plays into the ferry conversation with Manatee County, he said.
“Is there a location where they can congregate on the mainland side?” he asked.
“There’s been a lot of construction in your city,” Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth said to Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie. “Was there a lot of parking added in Bradenton Beach?”
“I think they’ve added well over 100 spaces” at Coquina Beach, Chappie said.
“When everybody is leaving at the end of the day and they add 200 or 300 parking spots, that’s 200 or 300 more cars you have to wait for,” Titsworth said.
“Don’t misunderstand where the traffic is coming from. I would say a lot of that traffic, most of that traffic, is coming from Longboat Key, not the beach,” Chappie said. “I live on that end of town, and it will be bumper to bumper during season at 8 or 9 o’clock. That’s not beach people.”
Chappie said he thinks both the proposed new Longboat Pass and Cortez bridges will help with traffic congestion.
“I had a recent meeting with our state representatives and one thing we talked about was the turn lanes to Cortez Road,” Chappie said. “Once the new (Cortez) bridge is completed, the merge lane will be expanded significantly. What people are doing at that intersection is stopping. You don’t stop, you use the merge lane to merge into traffic. It’s all about keeping the flow.”
