People who frequent a multiuse trail at Coquina Beach will experience less shade.
Manatee County is remodeling the path, beginning with the removal of 96 Australian pine trees.
Manatee County information outreach manager Bill Logan told The Islander a tree removal company working under Woodruff & Sons would be removing the trees in late September.
“A few weeks of work on that, then they will move to installing a root barrier along the path,” Logan said.
“That work should take them well into October. It sounds like paving would likely be completed after the holidays,” he continued.
In August, Manatee County commissioners approved the $1,305,432.93 project.
County strategic planning manager Ogden Clark told The Islander Sept. 21 that removing the trees is a necessary first step in remodeling the trail.
“The proposed work is the removal of the existing trail, repaving in the same location at the same width with root barriers, required tree trimming and removal and tree replacements as required — from Longboat Pass to Fifth Street South,” Clark said.
Root intrusion that created an undulation in the trail’s surface necessitated the remodel.
Clark said the county is only removing trees closest to the trail’s edge.
“Trees to be removed are within 3 1/2 feet of the existing trail,” Clark said. “A root barrier will also be installed where trees are within 10 feet of the sidewalk. Once this preparation work is completed, the trail will be rehabilitated.”
The county’s sports and leisure department is steering the project since it oversees the park.
He said another area of concern was the beach marketplace zone, as the market is due to open Oct. 4. The market area is planned along the trail for access.
“We have a short window to clear necessary trees in the market area so that we can get the shops up and running again. We are focusing on that first,” Clark said.
The new path will follow the same route as the current path.
“I believe the plan is to start in the south and work north. This is subject to the market starting and input from the park’s folks,” Clark said.
And because Bradenton Beach has requirements for tree removal, the county will need to plant native species to mitigate the loss.
The Islander reached out to Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie Sept. 19 and Sept. 20 but, as of Islander press time, there was no response.
From the archives
Over the past two decades, all three island cities and Manatee County have dealt with the removal of Australian pines and other tree species from public areas.
In the 2000s, the planned removal of dozens of Australian pine trees at Coquina Beach spurred protests.
In May 2007, for example, six protesters at Coquina lashed themselves to Australian pines hoping to prevent bulldozer operators from taking down trees to make way for a redesigned parking lot.
The county, at the time, also was working on designs for the multipurpose trail, which included a plan to demolish more than 60 Australian pine trees.
— Lisa Neff