It’s been slow going but progress is being made at the parking lot project at Coquina Beach.
The focus is on eliminating large swaths of standing rainwater that previously remained after storms.
In March, phase two of a two-phase project to improve drainage and parking began at the Manatee County-managed Coquina Beach, which is at the south end of Bradenton Beach.
County tourist development funds generated by the resort tax — the 5% tax on accommodations of six months or less — are being used for the project.
American Pipeline Construction LLC began work in April on the parking lots, carrying out the county’s mission to prevent pooling and reduce stormwater flooding by installing underground pipes and drains and impervious concrete.
The project also involved removing Australian pine trees, an invasive nonnative species, and planting native trees, including buttonwoods.
The county focused on storm and floodwater resilience at Coquina Beach, where the landmass from Sarasota Bay to the Gulf of Mexico is narrow.
Work on the south end, phase one of the two-phase project, was completed in the spring of 2020.
The northernmost lot — subphase two — and the southern middle portion of the lot — subphase four — are in the final stages of development and should be completed by mid-January, county strategic affairs manager Ogden Clark told The Islander Nov. 30.
Subphase three, south of subphase two, should be completed by September 2022, the end of the county’s fiscal year.
American Pipeline Construction’s difficulty in procuring supplies and materials caused some delays, which prompted some concerns and complaints.
Holmes Beach resident Richard Flannigan is retired after 40 years in construction and engineering. He frequents Coquina Beach and told The Islander the northern lot appeared nearly finished.
“You get two guys out here and you could probably finish this all in a day or two,” Flannigan said Nov. 30.
“The beach market opens here Sundays and Wednesdays. This lot not being open when it should be is a big inconvenience to those vendors,” he added.
Clark said the northern lot is 90% done and then subphase four would be completed.
“What’s left is the curing process, rubber stoppers and painting, as well as what they call punch-list items, say if you took something like a sign out of the ground and have to put it back,” Clark said. “There’s also work to certify things like the integrity of the asphalt by doing compression tests.”
Clark said he understood public concerns but also said the results would be worth the wait.
“Projects like this can take well over 300 days. So it’s hard to pick a time frame that won’t interfere with parking on the island,” Clark said. “But when all is said and done, it will make the experience of parking out there a bit better.”
The entire project cost is now $3,447,313.77.
It will provide spots for 904 standard vehicles and four RVs.