Town considers ownership of Bay Isles Parkway, pedestrian tunnel

The Bay Isles Association wants the town to take ownership of Bay Isles Parkway and a pedestrian tunnel — that is, after determining who owns the tunnel.

At the Longboat Key town commission’s May 19 workshop, town staff and representatives from the Bay Isles Association discussed their ongoing conversations and updates about the two assets. 

According to Assistant Town Manager Isaac Brownman, the town and BIA have been discussing Bay Isles Parkway since 2023, and in April, the BIA officially submitted a proposal to divest its ownership. 

Why? 

First, the BIA claims the amount of liability it assumes for the road is disproportionate to how much its residents use it. Many on the island anecdotally regard Bay Isles Parkway as the second-busiest road behind Gulf of Mexico Drive. 

“The rationale we have received is that there is a liability exposure for the amount of traffic that utilizes Bay Isles Parkway, and not all of it, in fact, the majority of it, is not related to Bay Isles as the resident association,” Brownman said.

The BIA conducted a traffic count from March 11 to March 13 and found 53% of the cars entered the Publix parking lot, 8% went to Bay Isles Road and 39% of motorists traveled through to the Bay Isles gatehouse. 

Another reason the BIA wants the town to assume ownership is because of traffic enforcement limitations it believes the town could better handle. 

Before the town could fully consider the proposal, Brownman said staff needed the BIA to present an engineering overview and financial disclosure of costs.

The BIA hired Stantec, an engineering consultant firm, to perform the overview. Stantec’s report showed the road would need a full milling in about 2 to 5 years, and Brownman said he wouldn’t wait longer than 3 years because of several areas that are at risk of base failure. 

Stantec’s estimate to get Bay Isles Parkway up to standard was $699,850. 

“The town would prefer, if we were going to take over the road, that we would conduct all the work that needs to be done and lump it into our resurfacing program so we get the benefit of an economy of scale with our other projects,” Brownman said. “But we would be looking for Bay Isles to, in some form or fashion, fund that work.”

The BIA also said it spends about $15,000 per year to maintain the road, including landscaping and electrical work. 

Courtesy image

Mark Hullinger, a representative of the BIA, said the BIA complied with bringing the road up to standards in 2012 when Publix opened, but felt a little uncomfortable being told it would need to do substantially more work to bring it up to standard in 2025. 

“That might be a little bit more of an ask than we think is completely fair, but we're willing to consider everything,” Hullinger said. 

H. Joseph Reiser, president of the BIA, agreed, but said he and the association want to make sure everything is correct and willing to work with the town. 

“We're not looking for shortcuts. We want this to be credible, defensible and realistic,” Reiser said. “I think this is all workable.”

Brownman said the town would want the BIA to conduct a basic environmental analysis before it makes any decisions. 

Commissioners reached a consensus to allow town staff to continue conversations with the BIA and pursue the next steps, which, after the environmental analysis, could mean drafting an ownership agreement. 

But, the ownership agreement would need to clarify the terms of BIA’s financial responsibility for paying for the repair work, as well as future maintenance responsibilities, according to Brownman.

The second Bay Isles asset the town is considering is the pedestrian tunnel underneath GMD between Seaplace and Bay Isles. One outstanding question remains, though: 

Who owns the tunnel? 

Based on the BIA and the town's findings, the Arvida Corporation built the tunnel in the 1970s. It provides a safe crossing under GMD in an area where there are no nearby crossings.

The BIA is considering abandoning the tunnel and notified the Florida Department of Transportation that it would stop maintaining the tunnel on July 1. 

Again, the BIA’s main concern is liability. The association does not have the same sovereign immunity protections the town has in case of a major incident like the tunnel collapsing or someone getting injured in it. 

According to Hullinger, the BIA spends about $50,000 per year on insurance for the tunnel. 

The town also asked the BIA to conduct an analysis of the tunnel, and Stantec’s analysis was in line with what town staff observed: The tunnel is in solid condition. 

“Our mutually consistent observations are that the tunnel appears to be very structurally sound,” Brownman said. “It seems to be very robustly built due to the low elevation of the tunnel.”

Photo by Carter Weinhofer

The BIA acknowledges it has been maintaining the tunnel, but affirms its position that it does not own it. The FDOT also said it does not own the tunnel, nor would it want to, according to Brownman. 

Because the tunnel provides a safe crossing and used by the community, Brownman said the town has a general interest in keeping it open. 

“There's nothing else like it on our island and somewhat in our region — a tunnel that functions as a safe crossing under a state roadway,” Brownman said. “And so, yes, it is a community asset.”

The BIA estimates annual maintenance costs are about $15,000, but liability remains the top concern for the association. 

Town Attorney Maggie Mooney advised the “cleanest” way to determine ownership would be to take the matter to county court. Then, once determining ownership, the title could go to the town. 

Commissioners agreed to allow town staff to continue conversations with the BIA and for Mooney to explore the possibility of a title transfer.