New Bradenton-Palmetto bridge could cross Manatee River. Here’s where it could go
The Florida Department of Transportation has ruled out half of the possible locations for a new bridge across the Manatee River that is meant to reduce traffic congestion.
FDOT delivered its alternate corridor study update at Tuesday’s Manatee County Commission meeting. The study had 10 alternate corridors in August, but project manager Michelle Rutishauser said only five potential corridors are viable.
That number is expected to drop to three, before the alternate corridor evaluation is completed in January.
The viable corridors, according to Tuesday’s presentation, are as follows:
- Corridor A: State Road 70 (53rd Avenue East) and the U.S. 301 intersection, travels along U.S. 41, and ends between 33rd Street West and the U.S. 19 and U.S. 41 split.
- Corridor B: starts at State Road 70 (53rd Avenue East) and the U.S. 301 intersection, follows U.S. 301 and Ninth Street East, includes a new bridge crossing over the Manatee River from Ninth Street East to 16th Avenue East, continues along 16th Avenue East, follows 29th Street East, and ends at the U.S. 19 and U.S. 41 split.
- Corridor AB: starts at the State Road 70 (53rd Avenue East) and U.S. 301 intersection, follows U.S. 301 and Ninth Street East, includes a new bridge crossing over the Manatee River from Ninth Street East to U.S. 41, connects with and follows U.S. 41 north of the river, and ends at the U.S. 19 and U.S. 41 split.
- Corridor C: starts at the State Road 70 (53rd Avenue East) and 15th Street East intersection, follows 15th Street East, includes a new bridge crossing over the Manatee River from 15th Street East to 16th Avenue East, follows 16th Avenue East, travels along 29th Street East, and ends at the U.S. 19 and U.S. 41 split
- Corridor D: starts at the State Road 70 (53rd Avenue East) and U.S. 301 intersection, follows U.S. 301, connects to 27th Street East via 38th Avenue East, includes a new bridge crossing over the Manatee River from 27th Street East to Leffingwell Avenue, continues along Leffingwell Avenue and 36th Avenue East, follows Moccasin Wallow Road and ends at U.S. 41.
FDOT narrows Bradenton-Palmetto bridge options
The study is part of a two-part plan to alleviate traffic on the 67-year-old DeSoto Bridge, which links Bradenton to Palmetto near Manatee Memorial Hospital.
The first was a $168 million replacement bridge, starting in 2027, that is fully funded and is a three-year project, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.
The DeSoto Bridge was built in 1957, but the county’s population growth since then has caused capacity issues on the bridge — a common traffic congestion point in Manatee County.
“This project is in the planning phase, which means that we are taking sort of like a 100,000-foot level at looking at ways in which we can improve capacity across the Manatee River,” Rutishauser said.
The project has five phases. They are: planning; project development and environment (PD&E) study; design; right-of-way and construction.
The final three phases are not funded yet, but Rutishauser said that’s because they have not gone through the first two steps yet to determine what the project alternatives are going to be.
“This project is really to identify where best the corridors can go, not what they will look like,” Rutishauser said.
FDOT eliminated corridors that were either too far west or east of U.S. 41 and Business U.S. 41.
“Our traffic analysis really showed that those corridors do not really carry enough traffic to alleviate traffic off of both the Green Bridge, the DeSoto Bridge and the I-75 Bridge, which are the three bridges in the study area that cross the Manatee River,” Rutishauser said. “Those corridors are also extremely constrained, highly residential corridors with narrow, narrow right of ways.”
A potential corridor going over the Braden River and Manatee River was nixed due to the significant cost associated with building there, Rutishauser said.
“And from an environmental standpoint, there’s some sensitive lands in that area,” Rutishauser said.
What happens next?
The next step in the process is a public meeting and open house forum on Nov. 12. The meeting runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Manatee County Fairgrounds Veterans Hall, 1402 14th Ave. W., Palmetto.
There will be no formal presentation, but an informational video will play on repeat and FDOT will be available to answer questions.
Online meetings will also be held Nov. 14. For more information, visit www.SWFLRoads.com.
FDOT says the next steps involve completing the alternative corridor evaluation report (ACER) and beginning the PD&E in January.
