Some Cortez business owners are expressing renewed concern over the replacement of Cortez Bridge and the impact construction might have on their establishments.
The Florida Department of Transportation will hold an information meeting on its plans for a new bridge 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31, at Kirkwood Presbyterian Church, 6101 Cortez Road, Bradenton.
The DOT says the 65-foot span bridge will allow greater clearance for large vessels and require less maintenance due to the lack of moving parts typical in a bascule bridge.
But there are detractors.
A group of four people legally challenging the DOT’s choice to build the fixed-span bridge consists of Joe McClash, Linda Molto, Joe Kane and Jane von Hahmann. Molto and Von Hahmann live in Cortez and both von Hahmann and McClash are former county commissioners. They initiated a lawsuit seeking a mid-level 35-foot drawbridge instead and a federal appeal brief is due in February.
The group maintains a mid-level bridge would not require retaining walls while the megabridge would include inland walls that peak at 20 feet near Cortez businesses on the Intracoastal Waterway — including Tide Tables Restaurant, Annie’s Bait Shop and the Seafood Shack — and extend eastward into the community 700 feet along Cortez Road.
The estimated start of construction is in 2026 and business owners along Cortez Road were unsettled by the DOT’s latest meeting notice.
Dave Stubbers, owner of Beach’N Bikes, 4221 129th St. W., Cortez, voiced concerns about the scope of construction and that his bike rental business would be at the foot of the proposed ramp for the big bridge.
“It will basically isolate Cortez. What it’s going to do for business around here, I can’t imagine,” Stubbers said.
“The biggest thing is I’ve been here 42 years. You’re going to have this super bridge going nowhere,” he added.
Jeffrey O’Connell, owner of Bunny & Pirates in Cortez, said the bridge might block off his business.
“Even the traffic now, once those people are two hours to get out to the beach, by the time they’re right here, they are like ‘We are not pulling in there.’ If you build a gigantic bridge in front of my business, it’s going to affect me and probably not for the better,” O’Connell said.
At the Jan. 31 forum, the DOT staff will display project materials, answer questions and take comments.
The DOT also will present the information and take comments on the web at www.swflroads.com/project/430204-2 through Feb. 10.