The Florida Department of Transportation will begin a $2.126 million study in the next few months to determine what type of bridge will replace the Longboat Pass Bridge.
This would be the third of the three Anna Maria Island bridges ortiginally built in the 1950s that the DOT plans to replace. The state transportation agency wants to replace the Cortez and the Anna Maria Island drawbridges with 65-foot-clearance fixed spans, a move that has drawn opposition.
No decision has been made on what type of bridge will be built over Longboat Pass, pending completion of the study, DOT spokesman Brian R. Rick said in a Sept. 13 email to The Islander.
“The Longboat Pass Bridge PD&E study is scheduled to begin this fiscal year and will evaluate both fixed and movable bridge alternatives,” Rick said.
The DOT’s fiscal year 2019-20 started July 1.
A DOT Work Program Report states that a total of $2.126 million from two accounts has been allocated for FY2019-20 for the Project Development and Environmental Study.
Funding for design, right-of-way acquisition and construction has not been allocated, indicating any construction would be at least 10 to 15 years away. PD&E studies generally require several years to complete and must be approved by other agencies before the DOT can move to the next phase.
A $5.2 million repair to the Longboat Pass Bridge started June 10. Officials say the repairs could add 10-15 years to the life of the aging structure, which links Bradenton Beach and Longboat Key on State Road 789.
All three Anna Bridge Island bridges opened in 1957 and are now obsolete, the DOT says.
A PD&E study for replacement of the Anna Maria Island Bridge was completed in 2010 and approved by the Federal Highway Administration in 2016.
A $6.2 million design plan for the replacement bridge, a 65-foot-clearance fixed-span, will not be completed until fiscal year 2022-23, Rick said last month.
Funding for right-of-way acquisition and construction has not been allocated, he said.
The PD&E study for replacement of the Cortez Bridge is expected within the next few months, Rick said in August.
About $6.4 million for design of the new bridge linking Cortez and Bradenton Beach has been allocated and an engineering firm has been chosen, but that work has not started because the PD&E study has yet to be made public.
That study, which began in 2013, will provide analysis of the environmental, economic, social, cultural and physical effects of the new bridge.
The 65-foot-clearance fixed span the DOT said it will build has drawn criticism from Cortez residents who say the bridge would destroy the character of the historic fishing village.
Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie also opposes the megabridge, as does County Commissioner Carol Whitmore.
Whitmore said she recognizes that the Cortez Bridge must be replaced, but she favors a 45-foot-clearance drawbridge.
Every time we visit AMI , one of our daily ventures is to walk down to the Coquina Beach area and watch the draw bridge be lifted . We love the alarm being sounded as a genuine blast from the past . That reminds us of a kinder, gentler, less rushed time that represents “living on island time”, to my wife and me . If removed we would surely miss its charm. Newer bridge, taller bridge maybe… but the draw bridge should remain. We wouldn’t like “mega” anything on our favorite island .