Chop, chop: More trees will fall at Coquina

During the Manatee County multiuse trail remodel project, trees within 3 1/2 feet of the trail along Coquina and Cortez beaches will be removed. The Australian pine removals in Bradenton Beach are in preparation of a $1,305,433 replacement of the trail, a new 8-feet-wide paved path that runs from the south end of the Coquina Beach parking lot and about 1.5 miles north to Cortez Beach near Fifth Street South. County strategic planning manager Ogden Clark told The Islander Oct. 5 that 20 trees were removed Sept. 25 at Coquina Beach. Another 76 trees will be removed along the Coquina and Cortez Beach sections of the trail. As of Oct. 5, the county did not have a work date. Islander Photo: Robert Anderson