Tara Bridge talk resurfaces

River Place’s Al Horrigan wonders whether his friend would be alive if a bridge connected Honore Avenue and Tara Boulevard.

Such a bridge over the Braden River has been in Manatee County’s comprehensive plan for decades, but never has generated enough support to be built.

Horrigan has been involved in the issue since he moved to the subdivision in 2002. After his friend, Diane Kiffner, died in an auto accident on I-75 in February, he is trying to build more support for the project.

He said Kiffner was having dinner on University Parkway near the Mall and if a bridge had allowed her to get from Honore Avenue to her home in River Place, the accident wouldn’t have occurred.

The county purchased the necessary land, approximately 25 acres, for the project in 2009 and 2012. The land cost $2 million but the project remains unfunded.

A group of residents, who have connected on Facebook via “Build the Tara Bridge Now” group, plan to approach the county build a two-lane bridge with an additional lane for emergency vehicles, so the residents of the area have an alternative method to travel south. The easiest route now is to use Interstate-75.

“I-75 isn’t meant for local traffic,” said Whisper Bend resident Mark Butler.

He helped start the Facebook group in mid-March, along with Horrigan, former county commissioner Donna Hayes, Barbara Hemingway of Whisper Bend and Peggy Christ, who lives along the river.

Butler and Horrigan said a bridge over the Braden River would relieve some of the traffic clogging State Road 70 and would allow better access for first responders.

“We know it would be five to six years away, but we want them to start the project,” Butler said.

Christ has lived on the Braden River for 30 years and said the bridge could be valuable to the community. A small bridge would provide connectivity and also walk- and bike-ability, she said. Residents could hop on their bikes to get to UTC instead of going out of their way to drive. As a real estate agent in the area, she knows that kind of connectivity is a good sell.