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Tag: Florida Department of Transportation

Officials discuss state plan to replace Longboat Pass Bridge

Officials discuss state plan to replace Longboat Pass Bridge

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Anna Maria Island, Community News.

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.”

FDOT launches Cortez Road corridor study

FDOT launches Cortez Road corridor study

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Community News, Cortez, Transportation.

MANATEE COUNTY – The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is conducting an extensive study of the Cortez Road corridor from the east end of the Cortez Bridge in Cortez to the tip of U.S. Highway 41 in the West Somerset area.

During the Aug. 1 Council of Governments meeting at the Bradenton Area Convention Center in Palmetto, FDOT Community Planner and Strategic Intermodal System Coordinator Vitor Suguri and Renaissance Planning Managing Principal Frank Kalpakis provided county and city officials with an overview of the study and what it hopes to accomplish.

Suguri said the study, in addition to transportation elements, also addresses land use and future development along the corridor and will look at the relationships between transportation and land use. He said land use has a great impact on transportation and vice versa and the goal is to integrate both approaches in the study.

The study’s first phase includes meeting with and gathering insight from city leaders, residents, impacted stakeholders and property owners, developers and others. Public input meetings will be scheduled, but none have been scheduled yet pertaining to the western portion of Cortez Road that leads to Cortez and Bradenton Beach.

Suguri noted the lengthy Cortez Road corridor passes through multiple areas and neighborhoods that are different from one another and have different needs. He said three of the top 10 most dangerous segments of FDOT’s District 1 roadways in terms of fatal and serious injury crashes are located along the Cortez Road corridor, including the fourth most dangerous portion of the corridor between East 80th Street West (just west of 75th Street) to 30th Street West, near the Bowlero bowling alley. The next portion, from 30th Street West to 44th Avenue is listed as the sixth most dangerous stretch of road in District 1, which Suguri said includes 570 corridors.

According to the presentation, nine crash fatalities and 63 serious severe injuries have occurred along the corridor since 2015.

“It’s very important for us at the department to focus on safety, making sure whatever improvements we’re doing are not just about speeding up traffic. We want to make sure traffic is flowing safely. We want to make sure pedestrians can walk safely to where they’re going,” Suguri said, noting bicyclist safety is another key component.

“We know that just designing a safe roadway is not going to answer all the problems. There are multiple things involved with safety, so we want to take a system-wide approach. It takes all of us to bring it together. It’s policymaking, it’s how we interact with our community, it’s law enforcement and emergency management. It’s everybody working together to bring a good solution and that’s why we want to involve as many people as possible in this plan, so we can come up with good solutions,” Suguri said.

FDOT launches Cortez Road corridor study
The presentation slide illustrates the most dangerous portions of Cortez Road in terms of vehicular fatalities and serious injuries. – Submitted | FDOT

“It’s a commuter corridor. It provides access to the beaches. It serves multiple functions. It’s important to understand that in terms of developing a vision to respond to and facilitate the type of function that it serves,” Kalpakis said. “We’re looking at traffic conditions today and how conditions will be in the future as the corridor grows and as more people move into the area. Looking at safety conditions and the safety record in the corridor, which is not really good. That’s really the intent; to make sure the transportation strategies that we’re developing will make safe conditions for everyone.”

Regarding the anticipated study timeline, Suguri said, “We have about six months to complete this stage of the project. We’re already conducting interviews. We met with some of the commissioners and we’re scheduling more of those meetings. We have an extensive stakeholder list. We’re going to be engaging with them one-on-one, not only on how the roadway functions, but also on their plans for future development along the corridor.

“We’re also in the process of collecting data. We want to produce an existing conditions report that shows what the corridor is like today, what are the hot spots and where do we need to focus. We’re going to combine that with the information we get from the public to formulate those strategies. By fall and late winter we should have a vision plan and some high-level strategies we can offer,” Suguri said.

Suguri said the next steps include finalizing the transportation and land use existing conditions report, conducting more stakeholder interviews and preparing a community story video.

“It’s best to hear from the community so we can share with the public, so it’s not DOT leading the way, it’s really the community taking leadership,” he said.

Suguri said a visioning workshop is anticipated in October that will give the public a chance to talk to FDOT officials and highlight what they feel are problem areas and hot spots. Suguri said a project website will also be created.

Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie expressed support for the study.

“I see this as a great opportunity, especially for the west side to be involved. FDOT is footing the bill on this so let’s get involved. We have traffic issues trying to get to and from the Island and there’s all the development that’s going to be taking place on the west side in the next few years.”

Along the west end of Cortez Road, 86 new homes are currently being built as part of the Hunters Point development, approximately 2,000 residential units are approved for the nearby and pending Peninsula Bay development and 6,500 residential units are approved for the pending Lake Flores development along Cortez Road and the El Conquistador Parkway.

Anna Maria opts out of Gulf Drive study

Anna Maria opts out of Gulf Drive study

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Anna Maria, Community News.

ANNA MARIA – The city-owned portion of Gulf Drive will not be included in a corridor study conducted by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).

On May 25, the Anna Maria City Commission unanimously agreed to opt out of the state-funded study of the Gulf Drive corridor and its coinciding rights of way.

The city owns the portion of Gulf Drive located in Anna Maria. The state owns the portions of Gulf Drive/State Road 789 located in Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach.
FDOT engineer/design manager Craig Fox introduced the study to Island officials during the May 8 Island Transportation Planning Organization (ITPO) meeting. During that meeting, it was noted that Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach requested and will participate in the FDOT study that’s scheduled to begin in August and be completed within two years at an estimated cost of $1.5 million.

The study will identify areas along Gulf Drive that could be improved in terms of safety and drainage. The improvements could include implementing complete street standards pertaining to sidewalks, multi-use trails, crosswalks and more.

Fox said the participating cities can use the completed study results to pursue state and federal funds to implement the street and right-of-way improvements identified in the study.

During the Anna Maria City Commission’s May 11 meeting, Mayor Dan Murphy briefed the commissioners on the proposed FDOT study and asked them to review the study document before making a decision on May 25.

Murphy noted the state, in the 1970s, turned over to the city the ownership of the portion of Gulf Drive located in Anna Maria. Since then, the city has maintained, studied and improved those rights of way and the city-owned street that extends from the Anna Maria/Holmes Beach border to the Coconut Avenue intersection.

During the May 25 meeting, Murphy noted the 46-page study document includes language pertaining to drainage and land acquisition. Murphy said he needed to provide FDOT with the commission’s decision by the end of the month.

Commissioner Robert Kingan said he didn’t see the need for the city to participate in the study of an area that’s already been subjected to extensive drainage engineering and improvements. He also noted the city is currently planning safety and drainage improvements along Pine Avenue and he doesn’t want the FDOT study to detract from those efforts. Kingan said the FDOT study could possibly be more detrimental than helpful.

Commission Chair Mark Short agreed and noted the study mentions drainage and complete streets. He pointed out that Gulf Drive gets wider when you enter Anna Maria and there’s already a wide multi-use trail alongside a portion of the city-owned road.

Short shared Kingan’s concerns that FDOT’s study recommendations may not be what’s right or best for the city.

“I’m not fond of this project either,” Short said.

Kingan made the motion to opt out of the study and the commission voted 4-0 in support of doing so, with Commissioner Deanie Sebring absent.

“I will notify FDOT tomorrow morning,” Murphy said.

Who’s Anna Marie?

Who’s Anna Marie?

Written by Jason Schaffer on . Posted in Anna Maria Island, Community News.

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – It’s been 100 years since the first bridge linking Anna Maria Island to the mainland was opened to the public.

During that time, the Island has gone through a lot of changes, but a name change hasn’t been one of them.

Knowing this, local veterinarian Denise Vondrasek was surprised when she was driving on Manatee Avenue toward the Island and noticed a crew putting up a sign letting drivers know that they are five miles from “Anna Marie Is.” Realizing the sign was misspelled, she stopped to tell the workers, but none of them spoke English, so she reached out to The Anna Maria Island Sun.

The Sun called the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, which spends millions of tourist tax dollars advertising Anna Maria Island around the world. Executive Director Elliott Falcione was not available for comment and office staff members were unaware of the sign.

A subsequent call to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) resulted in the typical transfers to multiple departments, but a spokesperson for District 1 – which covers Manatee County – said she would immediately put in a work order to replace the sign.

With refreshingly little government red tape, The Sun was assured the error would be corrected.

Editor’s note: Having restored the integrity of The Sun’s namesake, Dr. Denise is honorary copy editor for the day.

Petitioners challenge Cortez Bridge decision

Petitioners challenge Cortez Bridge decision

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Bradenton Beach, Community News.

CORTEZ – Opponents of the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) plans for the replacement of the Cortez Bridge have filed a petition for a formal administrative hearing before the State of Florida’s Division of Administrative Hearings.

The petition is in response to FDOT’s written announcement on Oct. 10 that stated FDOT’s Office of Environmental Management granted location and design concept acceptance for the bridge replacement project that calls for a 65-foot-tall fixed-span bridge to someday replace the aging drawbridge on Cortez Road.

The FDOT acceptance signaled the end of the Project, Design and Environment (PD&E) study phase and allows the project to move into the design phase. Filed in accordance with Florida Statutes, the petition challenges that FDOT acceptance.

Former Manatee County Commissioner Joe McClash is serving as the qualified representative for the petitioners – a group that also includes former County Commissioner Jane von Hahmann, Cortez residents Linda Molto and Joe Kane, the ManaSota-88 organization, the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage (FISH) and the Cortez Village Historical Society.

Von Hahmann signed and verified the notarized petition on Oct. 23.

The petition names the State of Florida Department of Transportation as the respondent.

The first page of the 23-page document states all the petitioners would have their substantial interests affected by agency action that permits the existing drawbridge to be replaced with a 65-foot-tall fixed-span bridge instead of a new and drawbridge.

“The 65-foot high level-fixed bridge will impact the maritime culture of the fishing village of Cortez and its fishing industry,” the petition says of FISH’s statutory right to initiate the challenge.

“The 65-foot high level-fixed bridge will create immediate harm to the historic fishing village of Cortez,” the petition says regarding the historical society’s right to challenge.

“Members recreate throughout the region including the area of the Cortez Bridge and have concerns that the fixed span bridge will impact environmental, aesthetic, cultural and natural resources,” the petition says of ManaSota-88’s right to challenge.

“The proposed action of a 65-foot high level-fixed bridge immediately affects the petitioner’s substantial interest in the use of the navigation waters at the Cortez Bridge with a sailboat having a mast height of 60 feet,” the petition says of McClash’s standing as a petitioner.

Taken from a 2017 FDOT video simulation, this illustration shows how the proposed bridge would alter the landing area in Cortez. – Submitted

The petition states von Hahmann has lived in the village of Cortez for 43 years and owns commercial and residential rental property in the village. It also states Kane resides at Fewville, a tiny village located within the historic village of Cortez, and Molto is a 32-year resident of Cortez who lives in one of the oldest houses in the village.

The petition states the FDOT action impacts the various petitioners’ quality of life, environment, financial well-being, mobility and the preservation of the village they enjoy and intend to continue enjoying.

The petition states a 65-foot bridge would create a dangerous intersection of offsetting streets with no safe pedestrian crossing, create an unacceptable increase in noise levels, divide the neighborhood with a wall-like structure and change the aesthetics of the village of Cortez in contravention of the county’s land-use restrictions.

McClash insight

When contacted, McClash said the FDOT attorney has acknowledged the petition was filed and will either accept it as filed or find flaws and request corrections.

Barring a successful motion to dismiss, McClash expects an administrative law judge from the Division of Administrative Hearings to conduct a hearing and issue a recommended order. McClash said FDOT would then issue its own final orders.

“It’s a little bit of an unfair process because the final action goes to the agency that wanted to permit what you’re challenging. Even if you have facts in your favor, the department has a lot of discretion when it comes to entering these final orders.” McClash said.

“I think FDOT definitely missed informing the public of the impact of the 18-foot-high sound walls,” McClash said.

As noted in the petition, McClash and his fellow-petitioners dispute FDOT’s claim that 75% of those who attended a public hearing in 2017 supported the 65-foot bridge option.

McClash said the petitioners’ ultimate hope is that FDOT rescinds its PD&E study-based action, addresses the concerns of the community and opts for a new drawbridge instead.

FDOT response

On Oct. 31, FDOT spokesperson Brian Rick provided The Sun with the state agency’s initial response to the petition.

“We have received the Petition for Formal Administrative Hearing for the Cortez Bridge. The department is highly confident that we followed all applicable state and federal guidelines related to this PD&E study; however, since this now a legal matter, we cannot provide comment,” Rick said via email.

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ITPO members pledge support for smaller bridge

ITPO members pledge support for smaller bridge

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Anna Maria Island, Community News, Cortez.

BRADENTON BEACH – Some of the Island’s elected officials are not letting FDOT replace the aging Cortez Bridge with a 65-foot fixed-span bridge without a fight.

Manatee County Commissioner and long-time Anna Maria Island resident Carol Whitmore appeared before members of the Island Transportation Planning Organization at a Sept. 16 meeting to ask for support in taking a stand against the 65-foot bridge. Though Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy was absent from the meeting, Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie and Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth pledged their support in the fight against the fixed-span bridge on behalf of the ITPO. They also agreed to take the topic back to their respective city commissioners to discuss possible city support of the effort.

“I know it can be changed,” Whitmore said of the Florida Department of Transportation decision to replace the aging drawbridge with a 65-foot fixed-span alternative. She added that if the high bridge is built, she feels that it will decimate the character of the historic village of Cortez as well as that of Anna Maria Island.

Whitmore said that she supports the mid-level alternative offered by FDOT in previous presentations to the public – a 45-foot drawbridge that she said would be higher than the current bridge and allow more boat traffic to pass under it without raising the drawbridge as frequently and stopping the flow of vehicular traffic. She also said that because the bridge isn’t as high as the 65-foot alternative, she doesn’t feel that it would damage Cortez and Bradenton Beach like the large bridge would.

“It really isn’t out of our hands,” she said of the design alternatives for the bridge, adding that “no one objects that it needs to be replaced.”

The Cortez Bridge has undergone several repairs over the past few years to help keep it functional, despite the fact that the bridge has outlived its 50-year lifespan. FDOT has secured funding for a design phase, which hasn’t yet begun, and representatives have publicly stated that the fixed-span bridge is the preferred alternative of the three designs presented to the public. No funds have been secured to construct a replacement bridge or to replace the Anna Maria Island Bridge on Manatee Avenue which is also planned to be replaced with a 65-foot fixed-span bridge.

Whitmore said that when FDOT leaders decided to replace the bridge on Manatee Avenue with a high-span bridge it was agreed that there would not be a high-span bridge linking Cortez and Bradenton Beach. Now she said she expects FDOT leadership to honor that agreement. Chappie said that he too remembers that agreement and supports Whitmore’s efforts to fight for the mid-level drawbridge replacement option.

“The high bridge is going to destroy the ambiance of our two communities,” he said.

The Cortez Village Historical Society has long expressed opposition to the high-span bridge, concerned about historical buildings on both sides of Cortez Road being affected by the access roads of the proposed bridge.

“I know in my heart this will be good for the whole area,” Whitmore said of the mid-level bridge.

Whitmore asked for a letter of support from the ITPO as well as for each mayor to speak with their city’s lobbyist about pushing the issue at the state legislative level.

Despite Murphy’s absence, Chappie and Titsworth agreed to move forward with supporting her efforts and speaking with their city commissioners and lobbyists about supporting the mid-level bridge replacement option.

“You either stand for something or you stand for nothing,” Chappie said. “We need to stand in support of this.”

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New details emerge for high-span bridge

Written by SUN contributor on . Posted in Community News, Transportation.

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – There’s been a lot of talk from the Florida Department of Transportation about high-level bridges coming to the Island. The first one expected to arrive is the planned 65-foot, fixed-span replacement bridge for the current drawbridge on Manatee Avenue. Despite a lack of available funding, FDOT representatives are still making big plans for the Anna Maria Island Bridge.

FDOT project manager Roxann Lake and Ryan Forrestel, project manager for American Consulting Professionals, appeared before elected officials at the Island Transportation Planning Organization meeting to discuss those plans. They discussed what the new bridge is planned to look like and what may change on the Island when the new bridge is finally built.

“Our job is essentially to get the job done and on the shelf in case funding becomes available,” Forrestel said.

The new bridge is planned to be built about 100 feet south of the current bridge, with bridge approaches in roughly the same place they are now. This allows for the current drawbridge to remain in service while the high, fixed-span bridge is under construction. Once finished, at its highest point the new bridge is planned to have 65-foot vertical clearance to allow boats to pass underneath without the traffic stop of a drawbridge raise.

Two vehicular traffic lanes of 12 feet each are planned, along with a 10-foot shoulder on either side of the bridge. A concrete barrier wall will separate the vehicle lanes from 10-foot pedestrian and bicycle paths on either side of the bridge.

Anna Maria bridge piers
The hammerhead style piers supporting the bridge are planned to be blue with an impression of sea turtles on every fourth pier. – FDOT | Submitted

Forrestel and Lake went over the design choices selected by the bridge aesthetics committee in 2017. The group, made up of local stakeholders including representatives from Keep Manatee Beautiful, the Island cities, Save Anna Maria and Manatee County, met for 10 months between 2016 and their final meeting in April 2017. Choices made by the committee include the selection of hammerhead style piers to support the underside of the bridge cast in blue with a stamped motif of sea turtles on every fourth pier. The underside of the bridge is planned as a natural cement color. A metal railing with a sunshine motif is planned for the outer edges of the bridge.

Anna Maria bridge railing
Pedestrian railings lining the outer sides of the bridge will feature this sunshine motif. Pedestrian walkways are planned to be separated from vehicle lanes by concrete barricades. – FDOT | Submitted

While no lights or landscaping will be placed on the bridge, small pocket parks are planned for each end of the bridge featuring native landscaping and benches for pedestrians to rest. Walkways will wrap around the base of the bridge approaches on each side and feature cement tile walls with motifs of pelicans, sea turtles and manatees separated by tiles of fractured granite to give the area some texture. Railings will separate the walkway from the water.

Landscaping choices for the pocket parks and bridge approaches include sabal palms, silver buttonwoods and royal palms. To help add instant “curb appeal” to the bridge, Forrestel said FDOT planners have chosen a “bold” approach to landscaping where more mature trees will be planted so the effect is more noticeable immediately after plantings.

Anna Maria bridge parks
A pocket park is proposed as a “rest area” for each end of the new bridge. – FDOT | Submitted

Final plans for the bridge are expected to emerge in late 2019.

Forrestel said no right of way acquisitions are needed for the project.

Construction on the bridge, estimated to cost $15 million, is not yet funded.

Anna Maria bridge wall impressions
The aesthetics committee for the Anna Maria Island Bridge chose a mixture of wildlife impressions to recognize the animals that make the area home. These impression panels are planned to wrap around the base of the new bridge on each side underneath the bridge approach. – FDOT | Submitted

Once the fixed-span bridge is built, other changes may be made to the Island side of Manatee Avenue, including changes to parking at Kingfish Boat Ramp.

Forrestel said the bridge project managers are working with Manatee County officials to determine just how parking at the popular boat ramp will be affected and where additional parking spaces can be placed. Currently, the plan is to primarily eliminate parking on the south side of Manatee Avenue and extend the current parking area to the east toward the bridge.

Another change proposed for Kingfish is the elimination of left-hand turns to the east out of the parking area.

With the installation of a roundabout planned for the intersection of Manatee Avenue and East Bay Drive, Forrestel said it would be safer for boaters going east to turn right out of the boat ramp and circle the roundabout to get up adequate speed to go east over the bridge.

Engineer to all three Island cities Lynn Burnett said she hopes the roundabout, which she called “a much-needed improvement,” will be installed before the new bridge is built.

Lake said the Anna Maria Island Bridge project is being presented to FDOT leaders again in fall 2018 for possible funding.

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