Setting the stage

Cranes and other construction equipment occupy the former Seafood Shack property, 4110 127th St. W., Cortez, July 8 as work begins to mobilize for the Florida Department of Transportation’s Cortez Bridge replacement project. The drawbridge will remain in service during much of the four-year construction period for the high, fixed-span bridge. Construction is expected to begin in September. The bridge project website is at swflroads.com/project/430204-2. Islander Photos: Robert Anderson

The view toward the east from the Cortez Bridge July 8 includes the DOT staging area on the Manatee County-owned former Seafood Shack property on Sarasota Bay in Cortez. Crews are mobilizing now for construction of a fixed-span bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway, connecting Cortez and Bradenton Beach. The construction cost is estimated at $123 million. The project includes the bridge and also approaches on Cortez Road from SR 789/Gulf Drive in Bradenton Beach to 123rd Street West, a distance of about 0.9 mile.