It’s a two-lane country road, and widening lags the big developments in Parrish area
The developer of the huge Parrish Lakes project recently submitted a request to Manatee County government for administrative review of site preparation work, a necessary first step in starting construction.
Parrish Lakes plans call for 3,300 homes and 400,000-square-feet of retail and office space on a 1,150-acre site between Moccasin Wallow Road in the north and Erie Road in the south.
Parrish Lakes and the nearby Neal Land & Neighborhoods’ North River Ranch, planned for 6,000 homes, are the two largest developments along Moccasin Wallow Road, a two-lane country road at the center of 25,000 homes planned for the Parrish-North River area.
And Parrish Lakes and North River Ranch aren’t the only developments planned for Moccasin Wallow Road, whose widening is lagging all the new rooftops under construction.
Also moving along are the Del Webb BayView community planned for 950 homes on 500 acres; the Robinson Gateway Project, planned for 542 residential units, 900,000 square feet of retail space, 600,000 square feet of office space, a 1,750-seat movie theater and 350 hotel rooms; and the McClure MWR Mixed Use Development, planned for 360 multi-family units, 276,700-square feet of retail/commercial space and 45,000-square-feet of office space.
Under ideal circumstances, infrastructure, such as roads and sewer, would be in place before construction starts on master planned communities.
So, where are the county plans for widening Moccasin Wallow?
In 2019, Manatee County staff held a public meeting at the First Baptist Church of Gillette to share how Moccasin Wallow Road would be widened from two lanes to six, with three lanes in each direction. The $30 million project would run 1.9 miles from U.S. 41 to just west of Interstate 75.
That first phase of the street widening still does not have a construction start date.
“We are awaiting eminent domain hearing dates which must happen prior to construction initiating. Once this is completed, we will be able to prepare a start date and schedule,” county spokesman Nick Azzara said in an email.
The portion of Moccasin Wallow Road east of I-75 and extending to U.S. 301 would be tackled separately and completed in three segments:
▪ 301 to 115th Ave. E.
▪ 115th Ave. E. to the future Sawgrass Road
▪ The future Sawgrass Road to Buffalo Road
“Timelines are currently in flux as we work through Florida Department of Transportation permitting requirements. As the outstanding items are addressed, we will have a better timeline but we want to initiate construction by the end of the year at the latest,” Azzara said of widening east of I-75.
There is construction funding for the segment of widening west of I-75 and design funding for the two segments on either side of the future Sawgrass Road.
Developer Pat Neal previously offered to help the county widen Moccasin Wallow Road in Parrish for about half the cost.
“We are actively pursuing locating partnerships, public-private partnerships, under the Public-Private Partnership Act or may do so using the North River Ranch Stewardship District,” Neal said in an email Monday.
“We have made a proposal to build the first two sections of Moccasin Wallow Road (appropriated with 50% match from the Florida Legislature). I believe those proposals are being considered by Manatee County and will be likely discussed during the month of August,” Neal said.
Gretchen Fowler, president of the Parrish Civic Association, said she has heard more concern about Pat Neal’s lobbying to change the name of Moccasin Wallow Road, than that the widening of the road is lagging development.
That could be because there are other road improvement projects in Parrish begging for attention, and residents see that action is being taken to improve Moccasin Wallow Road, she said.
Those other road projects worrying Parrish residents are the planned realignment of Erie Road and State Road 62, and the lack of action on improving Erie Road itself, which is a two-lane road without sidewalks where children walk to school.
Also of concern is the planned redevelopment of the Interstate 75-US. 301 interchange, which would be the largest Interstate 75 improvement project in Manatee County area since the highway was first extended through the Bradenton area.
The I-75 interchange project — at a cost of $145 million, and planned over a four-year period — would widen I-75 and reconstruct the I-75-U.S. 301 interchange from a partial cloverleaf to a tight diamond configuration. The project would also add two lanes to the I-75 bridge over the Manatee River.
The timing of all those projects is cause for concern.
“All of those projects,” Fowler said, “are going to be going on at the same time.”
This story was originally published August 2, 2021 at 3:27 PM.
