Joyous occasion for Manatee County, but more drama on the way

So there they were, dignitaries, officials, city staff members and politicians, sitting on an expensive bridge over a reclaimed lake at the Southeast Water Reclamation Facility.

It was Aug. 4 and Manatee County was celebrating the opening of the final segment of the 44th Avenue East Extension which hooks up the road from just west of Interstate 75 to Lakewood Ranch Boulevard. A major piece of the puzzle was getting over the reclaimed lake.

The finished product will be heralded as a connector from Lakewood Ranch all the way to Anna Maria Island, which of course, it isn't really.

Close, but not quite.

When you get on 44th Avenue now, starting on Aug. 9, it will take you from Bourneside Boulevard in Lakewood Ranch all the way to west Bradenton, where you can then take Cortez Road (which on maps doubles as 44th Avenue but indeed is Cortez Road) the rest of the way to Anna Maria. 

The very good news, which absolutely is worth celebrating, is that a project more than 50 years in the making is finally done, and an estimated 21,000 vehicles a day will be taken off State Road 70 and State Road 64 every day. Way to go Manatee County.

An estimated 36,000 vehicles a day now will be using 44th Avenue, which is a kind of a good news/bad news revelation. I guess if those 36,000 vehicles are spread out through the day, that's smooth sailing. But forgive me if I don't worry about the west end of the road where the two westbound lanes turn into one about a half mile before we arrive at Cortez Road.

Being a Lakewood Ranch guy, you wouldn't think I would be worried about the other end of the road. The fact is that I will be a heavy user of 44th Avenue because I spend a lot of time in Cortez and at the beach. The 44th Avenue extension absolutely will make my life easier not having to fight my way down SR 64. Hooray! That's great as long as that failure to finish the job on the west end doesn't cause jams in the future.

Over the decade I have lived in Lakewood Ranch, I can't tell you how many times I have sat around the pool in my neighborhood and listened to friends explain how they never went to the beach because it was too far away.

I always laughed then, thinking it was silly that a 30-to-40-minute drive would keep anyone from enjoying one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. After Saturday's opening of the extension, saying the beach is too far away will be downright hilarious.

For those of us who live in Lakewood Ranch and the surrounding area, this should have been a perfect day of celebration. And yet, things were a little off.

Although it was 8 a.m. when the press conference started, standing on the pavement under the blistering sun made it feel like 100 degrees. The chairs were facing west, which is where the podium was placed, and not far in the background down 44th Avenue, was, of course, a new roundabout at 44th Avenue and Lena Road.

So fitting.

The pavement wasn't the only thing simmering. The Manatee County Commission and Schroeder-Manatee Ranch are headed toward a confrontation Aug. 7 when District 5 Commissioner Robert McCann will push his fellow commissioners to cancel the construction of a roundabout at University Parkway where Legacy Boulevard and Deer Drive meet.

If you pay attention to the commission's actions, you know that SMR was moving forward with planning and purchasing the raw materials to build the roundabout there after signing a contract with the commission in November, before newly elected commissioners took office. After McCann took his seat, he said his constituents began making it clear to him that they didn't want a roundabout at University Parkway, and he started the move to cancel the project.

This has created tension between Manatee County and SMR, which over the past quarter century have had a beneficial relationship that has led to many public-private partnerships.

On what should have been a "drinks-all-around" kind of party, there was tension hanging over the 44th Avenue extension celebration. No SMR representative was invited to speak at the podium, even though the Lakewood Ranch developer was a major player in the 44th Avenue extension.

After McCann finished thanking everyone else who had a hand in the project, the very last person he recognized was SMR President and CEO Rex Jensen. It was awkward.

Throw personal feelings aside between McCann and Jensen, there should have been the overriding realization that if it wasn't for Jensen and SMR, there wouldn't have been any need to lengthen 44th Avenue.

The speakers talked about how the 44th Avenue extension is all about bringing Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch together as a combined community. Now the question is whether the University Park roundabout issue will drive a wedge between SMR and the commission.

As a taxpayer in Manatee County, I hope the commissioners fully research the consequences of cancelling the contract with SMR. If major funds are required to compensate SMR, should we as taxpayers be agitated? Are the wasted tax dollars worth this squabble?

Citizens in Manatee and Sarasota counties have been complaining about roundabouts for years, and yet they are all over the darned place. Would one more make a difference, especially when the county's staff recommended the roundabout as the safer, more efficient alternative for that spot?

In a few days we will know whether the 44th Avenue extension will be the perfect way for commissioners to come to Lakewood Ranch to celebrate more successful projects, or if it just provides a faster way to get out of town.