UPDATE: FDOT pitches Stickney Point Bridge repairs

The 46-year-old Stickney Point Bridge has about four years left in its lifespan. But, the Florida Department of Transportation aims to add at least another 10 years with $4 million repairs.

Sarasota County commissioners today heard a presentation from FDOT about the project, which the state expects to begin after Easter and complete before the start of the season in the fall of 2015. Without the rehabilitation, the moveable bridges will continue to deteriorate due to an “extremely aggressive” coastal environment, according to the staff presentation.

FDOT will require nightly lane closures from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., similar to when the state revamped the Siesta Key north bridge in the summer of 2012. During that time, the Siesta Key Village Association launched a $21,000 advertising campaign to attract mainlanders who may have been reticent to travel to the island during construction.

“It will affect us at some level,” said former SKVA President Russell Matthes in 2012. “Every time there’s construction (on Siesta Key) it affects (Village merchants.) Even if there’s one barricade, people get weird.”

FDOT will recondition the bridge’s electrical system and machinery, fix concrete, including the attached seawall and refurbishing the control house, among other repairs. The contractor may have to close down the entire bridge for 15-minute intervals to work on steel portions that need to be rehabilitated, said FDOT project manager Brian Loeser during the presentation.

“I live on Siesta Key, and when you did the repairs to the north bridge your contractor was fantastic about managing the traffic," said Commissioner Nora Patterson. "I had all kinds of comments about how well it was managed."