- March 18, 2024
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A comprehensive barrier island traffic analysis requested by Mayor Jack Duncan and Town Manager Dave Bullock is likely to include a review of drawbridge openings.
But the review, which the U.S. Coast Guard must perform, could span a year or longer.
In July, the Florida Department of Transportation will unveil the parameters of a study that looks at all issues that affect traffic both on the islands and the mainland. The Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization, which prioritizes both federal and local state transportation projects in both Manatee and Sarasota counties, requested in May that FDOT conduct an analysis that includes considers everything from traffic light timings, additional turn lanes, pedestrian crossings and other issues.
On June 22, the MPO also passed a resolution asking the Coast Guard to review and consider reducing the frequency of drawbridge openings in Manatee and Sarasota counties to alleviate year-round congestion.
“The delays on the roads serving the island communities…are no longer seasonal in nature,” the MPO resolution states.
The resolution stems from a request by the Island Transportation Planning Organization on Anna Maria Island, made up of the island’s three mayors, which asked MPO to consider limiting bridge openings to twice an hour year-round and for further restrictions during peak traffic periods, such as holiday weekend and during special events.
That would be a big difference from current opening procedures.
For the New Pass Bridge at the south end of the Key, the bridge must open every 20 minutes when boats are present, up to three times an hour between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m., the bridge must open on signal with at least three hours’ notice.
At the north end, the Longboat Pass Bridge opens on demand for boaters. And the Cortez Bridge, which connects Bradenton Beach to mainland Manatee County, opens on demand every 20 minutes between May 16 and Jan. 14, and every 30 minutes on demand from Jan. 15 through May 15, which contributes to gridlock at the north end.
The Coast Guard is being brought into the issue because it controls the bridges and when they open.
Bullock said he was glad the drawbridge issue is being looked at because it’s an integral component to alleviating traffic on Longboat Key.
It’s the first congestion issue Longboaters face when leaving the island.
“I’m hopeful the drawbridge issue will be included as part of FDOT’s analysis,” Bullock said. “In July or August, we hope to review a work scope and perhaps a budget for the analysis.”
A review of openings by the Coast Guard, though, could take awhile to complete.
Longboat Key resident and retired U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Steve Branham, who is also investigating the drawbridge openings, said the request is a lengthy one.
“The Coast Guard will go through the considerable history of the bridges around here and must look through documents of bridge openings from the last 25 years to see if it the openings warrant a change,” Branham said.
He also said it might be tough to have the drawbridge opening restrictions loosened up.
“Boaters have as much privilege to use the bridges and get it open as the motorists have to drive on it,” Branham said.
Branhman though, said when you compare motorist and boat traffic here to the east coast of Florida, “it’s not nearly as dense over here as it is over there.”
Branham also notes that the Longboat Pass and New Pass Bridges are not located directly on the Intracoastal Waterway, which has stricter policies in place for those bridges.
“It might work in our favor but I’m not sure,” Branham said. “It’s a complex review that requires both state and federal input.”
FDOT District 1 Secretary Billy Hattaway, meanwhile, told local officials during a Manatee County Chamber of Commerce event June 18, at the Seafood Shack in Cortez, that FDOT plans to perform its traffic analysis before the next influx of seasonal traffic begins.
Duncan, who attended the event, was glad to hear it.
That’s because Longboaters complained all season long about traffic that they say is now a quality of life issue.
Residents told Bullock at any event he was at this season that they are sick and tired of the seasonal traffic gridlock that forces many of them to stay home rather than face sitting in their car for hours on Gulf of Mexico Drive.
The concern prompted Bullock to explain to the MPO board in April that if the Sarasota-Manatee area can’t manage traffic more efficiently in season, the island is in danger of losing both tourists and residents to areas that can.
Bullock says FDOT “must own the problem” because it owns and controls all of the roads involved as part of the analysis.
“We’ve seen businesses tell us there customers aren’t coming back,” Bullock said. “And homeowners say their renters aren’t coming back. There are complaints we’ve never heard before that need to be addressed."