‘Flyover’ plan for new DeSoto Bridge gains support

Vice Mayor Gene Brown summed up a future vote about bridge options to help alleviate traffic congestion between Palmetto and Bradenton: “It isn’t going to be a 5-0 vote.”

Opinions have differed and tempers have flared throughout the Central Manatee Network Alternatives Analysis, but one possible replacement is gaining favor.

Coming off two December public meetings, Florida Department of Transportation officials renewed their presentations to various government entities, beginning Wednesday in Bradenton. Based on surveys, 71 percent of the public favors the DeSoto Bridge elevated bridge concept as opposed to building a new bridge at Ninth Street East, 15th Street East or 27th Street East.

FDOT claims that one-third of the overall traffic is regional traffic with no intention of stopping in Bradenton or Palmetto. The elevated lanes would give these drivers the option to avoid local traffic and, in turn, keep the regional traffic off the local grid.

But concerns remain on how an overhead bridge would affect First Street businesses and the community. The fears are grounded in reality based on how elevated bridges have devastated some communities they hover over.

FDOT District One Project Manager Lawrence Massey said a lot has been learned since those older flyovers were constructed, but at least two councilmen say it’s not worth the risk.

Ward 3 councilman Patrick Roff says the concept looks too much like a Los Angeles freeway and Bradenton has worked too hard to modernize while keeping the small-city appeal.

“This is going to kill everything we’ve worked so hard for,” Roff said.

Ward 5 Councilman Harold Byrd Jr. is “dead set against” the flyover and doesn’t believe the surveys provided by FDOT have enough accurate information for the public to make an informed decision.

“We’ve talked about where you get on, where you get off, the impact to businesses, the design, will it be a toll or not be a toll,” Byrd said. “If you include all of that, then you have a survey that is more representative of where everybody stands. There are too many questions out there.”

A toll isn’t out of the question, Massey said, but would be applied only to the elevated through lanes and not local traffic. But he believes there are other funding sources where a toll would not be necessary.

If the concept is ultimately chosen, the elevated lanes would begin northbound at Red Barn in the 1700 block of First Street in Bradenton and southbound at the Bradenton Area Convention Center in Palmetto. Once on the elevated lanes, there are no opportunities as of yet to exit. Drivers would have the choice to take the local lanes below or choose the elevated lanes to bypass local traffic.

“But these are all preliminary sketches,” Massey said. “You have 2.5 miles from the southern terminus to the northern. Can we provide access in between? Potentially.”

Roff prefers a new bridge on 27th Street East that would extend into environmentally sensitive lands and cost more to build because of the added miles of road needed to connect Bradenton to Ellenton Gillette Road. It’s an option that scored low by the public. FDOT said it’s not impossible, but unlikely they would get the environmental permits. As far as expense, Roff didn’t care.

“Destroying our town to save a few bucks is not an option for me,” he said.

Brown, with allies in Councilmen Bemis Smith and Gene Gallo, said the right design won’t hurt the city — and if the goal is to keep regional traffic out of local traffic, then the flyover makes sense. “If you do the flyover, you get more regional traffic out,” Brown said. “If we do nothing, then shame on us.”

The project will have to gain support of the public, the city council, Palmetto, Manatee County, the Manatee-Sarasota Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Florida Legislature. Massey said if any one of those entities object, the flyover concept won’t happen. The next step is for the cities, MPO and Manatee County to choose their top options. At that point, more design will go into the selected options to provide enough detail for a final decision.

“Let’s make it very clear and set the record straight,” Massey said. “We were hired by MPO to work for you. There are a lot of cooks in this kitchen. That means all options are on the table.”

This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 3:37 PM with the headline "‘Flyover’ plan for new DeSoto Bridge gains support."