Bradenton Beach is rolling out slowly plans for a tram to transport people between Coquina Beach and Bridge Street.
Community redevelopment agency members voted 7-0 April 8 to issue a request for proposals for a pilot shuttle program to link Bridge Street to more than 1,000 parking spaces at Coquina Beach.
The tram — which has been in discussions for years — would run along Gulf Drive from Coquina Beach to Fifth Street South, up Bay Drive South, to the east end of Bridge Street and up to the Bradenton Beach Marina before looping back.
To accommodate the trail, parking along Cortez Beach would need to be reconfigured.
The CRA plans to operate the service 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily.
The RFP contains two bid options. In one option, the contractor provides and operates the vehicles. In the second option, the city would provide the vehicles and the contractor would operate the service.
The services must be compliant with the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act and designed for no less than 200 riders per hour.
Both options also require the operator to sanitize, store, maintain and insure the vehicles.
Bids must be submitted to the city by May 6.
City attorney Ricinda Perry said with COVID-19 still an issue, she couldn’t provide a time frame for completing the pilot. She recommended the CRA issue the RFP to determine the cost of the service while engineering the plans.
The CRA allocated $10,000 for the creation of the path plans and reconfigured parking.
CRA member David Bell said he wanted to see plans by the agency’s meeting at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 6.
Mayor John Chappie, a CRA member, said he’d like to move forward with the RFP so the pilot could begin “when everything comes back to normal.”
Angela Rodocker, owner of the BridgeWalk Resort on Bridge Street, told CRA members during public comment that the project shouldn’t be kicked down the road. She said they should try to launch the pilot no later than January 2021.
“If we don’t, we’ll find ourselves right back in the same place as we did this year,” Rodocker said.
Fifth Street South resident Terry Gebhardt wrote about her concerns with the tram’s impact on the community in a letter read aloud at the meeting. She wrote of her concerns that the tram would take parking from the beaches and pose a safety risk for people along Gulf Drive and Fifth Street.
“You title yourself as ‘community,’ yet you see only business and growth. Is it possible to have both?” Gebhardt wrote. “I would suggest that running a commercial endeavor down a neighborhood street speaks volumes about your lack of concerns for community.”
CRA member Jan Vosburgh, also a city commissioner, said the CRA should consider revising the route due to neighborhood concerns.
Bell said the RFP allows for route changes.
About 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 full-time resident David Bell.
