Protected wildlife area in path of proposed bridge over Manatee River

A proposed bridge to connect Bradenton and Ellenton could be an eyesore for residents of Braden Castle Park, and some are concerned it would harm the hundreds of birds that nest on recently protected mangrove islands on the Braden River.

Susan and Hunt Jones have spent the past 10 years as seasonal residents of the park, a community situated where the Braden River meets the Manatee River. The couple said they care about the environment and often watch birds that congregate in the mangroves just offshore of their neighborhood.

“I just don’t want to see it (the park) blown away by poor planning,” Susan Jones said.

In seeking alternatives to plan for the expected bump in population and to make rush-hour traffic more bearable, the state transportation department’s Central Manatee Network Alternatives Analysis presents seven possible areas for additional north-south routes over the Manatee River. The study also includes proposed improvements to pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Another option, which would provide no travel time improvements, would be to replace the DeSoto Bridge.

Five of the new bridge options link Bradenton to Palmetto, all the way up to the U.S. 19/U.S. 41 junction. The final two lead a proposed six-lane expansion of 27th Street East through Ellenton to Interstate 275.

FDOT officials have noted that the historical significance of the Braden Castle Park is a challenge. It contains the ruins of the Braden Castle, constructed out of lime and shell in 1850. Seventy-four years later, the land around the ruins was bought by Camping Tourists of America, and in the mid-1980s it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

There is an Ellenton bridge option that sidesteps Braden Castle Park, curving from 27^th Street East to Pine Island Preserve before heading north over State Road 64 and the Dot-Dash-Dit Islands.

In November 2016, the islands became Manatee County’s first critical wildlife area, a designation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for significant wildlife areas in need of protection. The mangrove islands serve as roosts for egrets, roseate spoonbills, anhingas and Tampa Bay’s only coastal colony of wood storks.

“It’s not only going to be humans affected,” Hunt Jones said. “It’s going to be wildlife.”

Because the transportation study is still in the preliminary phase, FWC officials said they haven’t formally viewed the plans. Selection of the alternatives won’t happen until mid-2018, and the study is expected to be completed in early 2019.

“Details of the project proposals or alternatives shown in the FDOT presentation have not yet been reviewed by FWC staff,” FWC spokeswoman Diane Hirth wrote in an email to the Bradenton Herald. “A proposed roadway or bridge in proximity to a Critical Wildlife Area (CWA) would need to be evaluated for potential impacts such as increased human disturbance or reduced habitat quality, along with avoidance measures and alternatives.”

Manatee County owns the majority of Pine Island Preserve, named after its main species, and it’s not open to the public. Parks and Natural Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker said of this particular bridge option, “The disruption would be significant.”

“I would suspect that that alternative is not one that would be supported from an economic cost standpoint,” he said.

This bridge option with the expanded lanes is the longest of all transportation options presented at 19 miles and only offers a 42 percent improvement in travel time. A 13.1-mile flyover bridge, which is an elevated bridge with separated lanes for regional and local traffic, to replace the DeSoto Bridge has the best travel time improvement at 51 percent.

According to Lawrence Massey, systems planning administrator with FDOT’s District 1, the bridge that goes over the islands was presented in such a way to avoid historical resource impacts and bridging over water. It also would require approval from the city of Bradenton and the community, as it goes through River Run Golf Links.

“Should the community decide to advance this concept for further study, there would be opportunity to refine the alignment and/or develop other alternatives to avoid and/or minimize impacts to environmental resources,” Massey wrote in an email to the Herald.

The next phase of the analysis will narrow down short- to long-term projects to be further reviewed in a project development and environment study.

Other suggestions the study proposes apparently aren’t popular, either. City of Bradenton officials recently expressed disdain for the flyover option because it could negatively affect access to businesses, and the concept had changed over several presentations.

The Joneses said they would be presenting information about the park, traffic and how the bridge could affect the environment at their community’s board meeting ahead of Tuesday’s public meeting, where Susan Jones said there would be “substantial volunteer representation.”

“I don’t see it as a viable option,” she said.

The department will hold two public meetings to showcase information on phase 2 of the Central Manatee Network Alternatives Analysis. On Dec. 12, an open house will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church Family Life Center, 1306 Manatee Ave. W. Another public meeting will be held Dec. 14 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Bradenton Area Convention Center, One Haben Blvd.

This story was originally published December 8, 2017 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Protected wildlife area in path of proposed bridge over Manatee River."