Two major concerns are on hold for the ITPO.
It’s been nearly two years since the Island Transportation Planning Organization suggested the U.S. Coast Guard adopt reduced opening schedules for the Anna Maria Island and Cortez drawbridges.
During a Dec. 5 meeting of the ITPO at Holmes Beach City Hall, Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization executive director David Hutchinson said he hadn’t received an answer regarding the island proposal.
From May 16-Jan. 14, the bridges open on signal 6 a.m.-7 p.m. on the hour and 20 and 40 minutes after the hour. From Jan. 15-May 15, the bridges open on a boater’s signal on the hour and half-hour from 6 a.m.-7 p.m. The bridges open year-round on signal from boaters 7 p.m.-6 a.m. The ITPO has requested the bridges open on demand every 30 minutes year-round.
The Longboat Pass Bridge, linking Bradenton Beach to Longboat Key, opens on demand year-round.
Bridge tenders are contacted on channel 9 on marine radio or by calling the emergency toll-free number at 1-866-335-9696.
“This has been going on for two years,” Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy said. He suggested pursuing the issue through state political channels or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees most Coast Guard operations.
“I think we should pursue this through political action,” ITPO member and Bradenton Beach Mayor Bill Shearon said.
The trio of mayors agreed to draft a letter seeking support and submit the letter to legislators.
The next step to changing the opening schedule would be for the Coast Guard’s legal team to approve the proposal. A public notice and a hearing would be followed by a six-month notice of the new schedule.
Another item on hold is funding for the Anna Maria Island Shared-Use Nonmotorized Trail.
Lynn Burnett, the three island cities’ engineer, told the mayors that the project is not in the Florida Department of Transportation’s five-year budget.
“It’s not something that can happen funding-wise in the next 24 months,” Burnett said of the trail. She represents the island cities on the MPO’s technical advisory committee.
The trail would be a multi-modal roadway on island streets with a wide sidewalk, vehicle and bicycle lanes. The trail would connect to existing trails on the mainland in Bradenton across the Anna Maria Island Bridge and to Sarasota through Holmes Beach, Bradenton Beach, Longboat, Lido and St. Armands keys.
The trail also would connect to the network of Florida Greenways & Trails.
“We have a plan. We have a project. And we have a need,” Shearon said of the trail.
Burnett said the next step is to have the Greenways map amended to include the AMI SUNTrail.
However, she added, the proposed island trail cannot be added without also adding the existing trails that connect the system in Bradenton.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection oversees the Greenways initiative.
Burnett said proposed map amendments won’t come up for consideration until the end of 2017. Map amendments could be adopted by the DEP in 2018.
Greenways maps not only identify current trails throughout the state, but opportunities for growth.
Burnett said SUNTrail is the eighth project for regional funding through the MPO, below the island mobility study, an update of the MPO’s long-range transportation plan and multi-modal improvement projects on U.S. Highway 41.
To keep the project on the MPO funding list and the DOT budget, Burnett said a new application needs to be in place by March 2017, as the MPO is updating its project application process.
Burnett said new application standards would be finalized and voted on at the Dec. 12 MPO meeting.
The ITPO is an advisory board for the island’s rotating representative on the MPO, currently Holmes Johnson. The group meets to discuss island-relevant issues and the MPO agenda to determine how they will vote.
The ITPO will next meet at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9, at Holmes Beach City Hall, 5801 Marina Drive.