The Florida Department of Transportation seeks to draw out comments on a drawbridge.
The Longboat Pass Bridge is the focus of a review — a project development and environment study — to identify alternatives for the bridge constructed more than 50 years ago to connect Longboat Key and Bradenton Beach.
The DOT has kicked off the study with a virtual meeting for the public through April 2 and planned to host an in-person meeting on Longboat Key at 5 p.m. March 23, after The Islander went to press.
The DOT set the meetings at the Harbourside Ballroom and at www.swflroads.com/sr789/longboatkey to provide people with documents on the scope of the project — on State Road 789/Gulf Drive from Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach to North Shore Road on Longboat Key.
The DOT identified three alternatives to be evaluated in the PD&E: Rehabbing the bridge or building a high-level fixed bridge or another moveable bridge.
During the study, each alternative will be studied to identify:
- Cultural impacts, including to historical, archeological and recreational sites;
- Social impacts, including to residents and businesses;
- Environmental impacts, including to wetlands, water quality and protected species.
For the PD&E, the DOT is circulating a questionnaire, asking those who show an interest in the project a series of questions and asserting, “Providing information through this survey does not represent your endorsement of the project. We would like your input as we advance this important bridge study.”
The DOT is asking respondents where they live and whether they use the bridge or the waterway underneath the structure:
- Are you a boat owner who uses the pass inlet?
- What type of boat do you own? If it is a sailboat, what’s the mast height?
- How often do you cross the bridge?
- Do you need to cross the bridge for work?
- How often do you bike or walk across the bridge?
Just after sunrise March 18, several hikers crossed the bridge from Longboat Key while several others climbed an embankment leading to the north side of the structure.
The climbers showed enthusiasm for a high bridge and the walkers told The Islander they favor a drawbridge.
“I walk most mornings and don’t mind getting stuck waiting for the drawbridge. Who would?” said Tammy Pendergrass, a seasonal resident on Longboat Key. “But I don’t think I’d want to walk on a megabridge.”
Bicyclists cycled below the bridge structure, riding along at the tip of Coquina Beach, and several anglers had lines out, waiting for bites.
“I don’t know that a big bridge or a little bridge would make any difference to me,” said Matt Olson of Bradenton. “But I do wonder if it’s for more cars, what’s the point? They got nowhere to go.”
Angler Troy Wilbanks, visiting from Dayton, Ohio, looked toward the bridge.
“I kind of like a drawbridge,” he observed.
The Longboat Pass Bridge is one of three bascule bridges on Anna Maria Island, all built in the late 1950s.
PD&E studies completed on the other bridges — the Anna Maria Island Bridge on State Road 64/Manatee Avenue and the Cortez Bridge on SR 684/Cortez Road — resulted in the DOT recommending 65-foot-clearance fixed-span replacement bridges.
Construction of a new Cortez Bridge, which faces a legal challenge in federal court, could begin as early as 2025.
Construction of a new Anna Maria Island Bridge is not set.
The Longboat Pass Bridge project is not funded for design, right-of-way acquisition or construction.
The first draft PD&E documents could be completed in the spring or summer of 2022.
Questions or comments regarding the PD&E can be emailed to the DOT project manager, Patrick Bateman, at patrick.bateman@dot.state.fl.us.
At a glance: The study
Start date: January 2020;
Target end date: August 2023;
Study cost: $2,125,000;
Scope: State Road 789/Cortez Road from North Shore Road on Longboat Key to Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach, about three-fourths a mile.
Bridge project process
PD&E study: Develop, evaluate alternatives;
Design: Survey land, plan construction;
Right of way: Acquire property, provide relocation assistance;
Construct: Build project.