Plans for a jitney shuttle in Bradenton Beach rolled to the Manatee County administration building.
Bradenton Beach officials went before county commissioners Dec. 17 at the administration building in Bradenton to discuss a shuttle that would transport people on a multiuse trail stretching alongside Gulf Drive from Coquina Beach to Bridge Street and then the Bradenton Beach Marina.
The shuttle would operate on a 20-minute cycle, the same as the fare-free island trolley operated by Manatee County Area Transit, but operate outside of vehicle traffic.
In November, Bradenton Beach commissioners approved an interlocal agreement between the county, the CRA and the city to allow the CRA to reconfigure a section of Coquina Beach, as well as parking along Cortez Beach, to accommodate the trail. Both beaches are owned and maintained by the county.
Modifications include changing Cortez Beach parking to prevent drivers from backing onto Gulf Drive/State Road 789 without reducing the amount of parking at the beach.
The first phase of work on the trail, a pilot program to test the concept, would be funded by the CRA.
If county commissioners approve the interlocal agreement and the CRA completes the first phase, the CRA would work with the DOT’s Office of Greenways and Trails’ SUN Trail program to subsidize additional improvements.
Dec. 17, Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie and Burnett took turns introducing county commissioners to the project and answering questions.
“I have a lot of friends that are supporting this project, but I have a lot of questions to ask because I also represent the entire county and those people who want to come out there to the beach and find a parking spot,” Commissioner Carol Whitmore said. “You’ll have a pull-in for the tram, so to me you’re giving up parking spaces to do that.”
Burnett said the project would not result in a net loss of parking spaces at Coquina or Cortez beaches.
‘Devil is going to be in the details’
“Just looking at this white paper, it did kind of raise concerns,” Commission Chair Betsy Benac said. “If there is one thing I have learned over the past years, people hate change. Especially at the beach, so it makes me very nervous when we start talking about making significant changes.”
“So, the devil is going to be in the details, and we don’t have a lot of details,” Benac continued.
Several people attended the meeting to support the project, including CRA member Ed Chiles, Commissioner Jake Spooner, Bradenton Beach Police Lt. John Cosby, West Manatee Fire Rescue Fire Marshall Rodney Kwiatowski, Bradenton Beach Marina owner Mike Bazzy and Bradenton Beach Area Merchants president Sherman Baldwin.
CRA member David Bell, who spoke against the jitney at a Dec. 4 meeting and said he might speak in opposition to the county commission, did not attend the work session.
Cosby said peak parking hours in the locations are staggered, with the beach busiest from dawn to 4 p.m., when people then migrate to Bridge Street. Because of the staggered peak hours, parking on either of the two ends would remain available.
Baldwin, who owns Paradise Boat Tours, which operates from the floating dock at the Historic Bridge Street Pier, said the jitney is needed to bring people to the east end of Bridge Street.
He said the only MCAT trolley stop in the area is near the west end of Bridge Street, so older people might not be able to access the pier and the east end.
Chiles told county commissioners the jitney would address Bridge Street’s biggest issue: parking.
“What this is about is: Where is the surplus of parking? … We have 1,800 parking spots (at Coquina Beach) that are never filled up — hardly,” he said.
Coquina Beach does have the largest collection of parking spaces in the city, but an analysis in the Barrier Islands Traffic Study found the beach had a shortfall of around 250 parking spots during peak business hours.
Chiles said the multiuse trail for the shuttle also would provide a walkway for pedestrians.
“This is a concrete step to get people out of their cars. It is a concrete step for connectivity and for improving what is the crown jewel of the island,” Chiles said, referring to the beach.
He continued, “How many times can you say you’re going to get something fabulous that you don’t have to put any money into?”
The discussion then went back to the dais.
“I sit here, and I think that we have to do something to relieve congestion and that we have to make our streets safer,” County Commissioner Misty Servia said.
She continued, “Sometimes we get really caught up thinking about the parking spots that might not be available next weekend, but we’ve really got to start thinking more globally about this. So I appreciate the presentation and I’m excited about the next steps.
Commissioner Stephen Jonsson, who represents District 3, which includes the island, said, “I think it’s great we’re finally starting to look at stuff seriously out there. We’ve spent a lot of time talking.
We’ve got to try something. We talk and we talk and we talk, and we’re great at talking, but maybe some point we can start doing something and see what it takes to actually solve those traffic problems.”
Jonsson has previously discussed implementing paid parking at Coquina.
No action was to be taken on the item during the work session, and no county commissioners spoke in opposition to the project. The proposed interlocal agreement with the county will be the next topic of discussion.
For now, the city and CRA will move forward with planning a pilot program to test the shuttle.
If the county commission approves the interlocal agreement, the city also will move forward with plans to reconfigure Coquina and Cortez beach parking.
Introducing the CRA
The Bradenton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency promotes restoration, growth and tourism for the district — bordered by Cortez Road, Sarasota Bay, Fifth Street South and the Gulf of Mexico — by funding capital improvement projects with incremental tax revenue collected by Manatee County since 1992, when the area was declared blighted.
The agency includes the mayor, city commissioners and two appointed members, restaurateur Ed Chiles and resident David Bell.