Two of the Historic Bridge Street Pier’s floating dock slips will be reserved for Manatee County’s Gulf Islands Ferry service.
John Cosby, Bradenton Beach’s police chief and Public works director, told The Islander Nov. 25 that the ferries will use the two slips closest to the police department’s boat lift, creating a dedicated loading and staging area separate from the public areas.
The slips sit along the city’s 26-piece floating finger-pier system, which extends into Sarasota Bay from the south side of the pier behind the Anna Maria Oyster Bar, 200 Bridge St.
The move follows months of coordination between the city, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and county tourism officials.
Cosby said the city has been updating its submerged-land lease with the DEP to allow the two slips for ferry traffic.
Under the city’s current lease, dock space is generally open on a first-come basis. A new designation will carve out two spots exclusively for the ferry once the DEP signs off on the language.
Cosby said the county requested a defined space because a new larger, express-style ferry with about 90 indoor seats is planned to enter the service. The new boat will be enclosed, climate-controlled and able to handle higher volumes during peak-season conditions.
The lease revisions, which Cosby said include four technical updates along with the ferry designation, are expected to be finalized and sent to city commissioners for acknowledgement this month.
As of Dec. 1, the Gulf Islands Ferry was operating between Bradenton’s Riverwalk Pier and the Historic Bridge Street Pier.
The county is eyeing an expansion, as well as a return next year to the Anna Maria City Pier, which is closed due to damages from hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Center, informed the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization’s board in October that the service planned at least two additional stops — one at Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach and another at a landing in Palmetto near the convention center.
At that meeting, Falcione also said the new, larger boat would be “in service hopefully before the end of the calendar year.”