Bridge pro quo.
At a Bradenton Beach city commission meeting April 22, city attorney Ricinda Perry reported the details of an April 16 closed-door settlement meeting with Florida Department of Transportation lawyers regarding the agency’s proposal to replace the 17-foot-clearance Cortez drawbridge with a 65-foot-clearance fixed-span bridge.
City commissioners discussed Perry’s negotiations with the DOT, which she said included the following requests:
- The installation of a wider multiuse trail alongside Bridgeport Condominiums and a sidewalk between the Gulf Drive Cafe and the Beach House Restaurant;
- The addition of a shuttle-only route on the megabridge;
- and the undergrounding of utilities “in areas that would be greatly impacted by the bridge.”
The DOT indicated that the requests, aside from the installation of a shuttle-only lane on the bridge, were feasible, and asked Perry to provide a cost estimate for undergrounding utilities, she said.
Perry also asked the DOT to explore the possibility of installing windows in the bridge support wall that would border Bridgeport Condominiums.
“I think there’s a lot we could possibly get back aesthetically with the trade-off of the bridge,” she said.
She also reported the DOT would not compromise on the size of the bridge.
“It’s the large bridge or we will keep what we have and it will have problems, and there will be significant repairs,” Perry said. “And I don’t know how long they will continue to let that last before they come in and just decide it’s unsafe, it’s coming down. And we’re not even going to have this same open-door discussion.”
Commissioner Jake Spooner asked if it is possible to set the parameters of a settlement agreement in stone even if the DOT does not construct the high bridge, which is currently facing a challenge in federal court from former County Commissioners Joe McClash and Jane von Hahmann, who resides in Cortez, Linda Molto and Joe Kane, also Cortez residents.
Megabridge construction is slated for 2026-27, but Perry said she communicated to the DOT the city’s desire to move forward with the requests as soon as possible because the contractors and equipment required for undergrounding utilities are in place.
Although Mayor John Chappie said he communicated the city’s list of requests to Perry in a mid-April phone call, he expressed disappointment with the conference’s outcome.
“In the stuff I see that they’re saying they can compromise on, I don’t really see a lot of stuff that’s beneficial,” Mayor John Chappie said. “In my opinion, again, I still think they can keep the current bridge going.”
The discussion then turned to additional “asks” Perry could bring to another meeting with the DOT, including undergrounding utilities and installing lighting on portions of Gulf Drive outside the scope of the bridge project.
“If that’s what the whole commission wants, Gulf Drive lit up by the DOT, I can make that request,” Perry said.
Chappie asked commissioners if they agreed to direct Perry to make the request and they replied in the affirmative.
The DOT provided the current plaintiffs a draft administrative record April 20. The document details how the department came to its decision to build the megabridge.
At the meeting April 22, city commissioners said they had not seen the record and agreed to review the report before directing Perry to schedule another conference with the DOT.