The state is proposing to make changes to a Cortez street, but a median may be off the table

The state’s proposal to construct a median from 119th Street West to 121st Street West along Cortez Road is not likely to happen, according to a Florida Department of Transportation official.

The most recent traffic count of vehicles turning left onto 119th Street West from Cortez showed an increase of about 400 percent, according to David Gwynn, FDOT director of transportation operations.

“It kind of surprised us,” he said Friday morning. “We are still going to show that alternative, but it’s not likely to be the alternative that we go to. We are going to have to look for other solutions.”

If the median were to be constructed, any westbound motorists seeking to make a left turn onto 119th Street West from Cortez Road would have to do so at 121st Street West. Anyone wanting to make a left turn from 119th Street West onto Cortez Road would not be able to.

As part of an ongoing island-to-mainland mobility study, which is looking at possible improvements to address seasonal traffic congestion between the islands and the mainland, FDOT has been collecting more data. While the study is not expected to be completed until fall 2018, FDOT has been asked by local elected officials to look at improvements that could be implemented very quickly.

The Cortez Road intersection at 119th Street West “runs pretty inefficiently,” Gwynn said.

The three options FDOT developed for the intersection are:

• Keep the signal as is.
• Remove the signal and re-stripe the roadway from the 119th Street West south portion to the existing median located east of the intersection as a two-way left turn lane.
• Modify the signal to only control the north portion. For the southern portion of 119th Street West, it would be restricted to a right-in/right out turning movements. The north portion “will be restricted to southbound to eastbound left out and right-in/right out movements under control of a traffic signal. Under these conditions, the eastbound through traffic on Cortez Road would only stop when the pedestrian phase is called,” FDOT spokesman Robin Stublen said.

Approached by Manatee County, FDOT is also looking at the possibility of realigning 119th Street West onto a portion of the Florida Maritime Museum property, according to Gwynn. The county is currently looking into whether they’d be able to convert a portion of the property for use by the road.

“We would be willing to go in there and construct the realignment of 119th,” Gwynn said. “That would probably be a better solution that we could do if that would be feasible.”

FDOT will also be doing a safety project in the vicinity of 119th Street West and Cortez Road. A public workshop has been scheduled for 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, May 9 at Cortez Road Baptist Church, 4411 100th St. W., Bradenton, to discuss the proposed improvements.

“There’s been a good number of crashes in that corridor,” Gwynn said.

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 11:20 AM with the headline "The state is proposing to make changes to a Cortez street, but a median may be off the table."