When will FDOT replace the DeSoto Bridge? The timeline just got pushed back
A replacement for the DeSoto Bridge connecting downtown Bradenton and Palmetto will need to wait a couple more years.
The 68-year-old bridge is due for an upgrade, which will include shoulders and multi-use paths, but the Florida Department of Transportation pushed construction funding back three years. A recent update says the $168 million project is not expected to break ground until 2030.
According to FDOT documents, construction was set to break ground in 2027. When asked why the project had been delayed, an FDOT spokesperson did not clarify the reasoning.
City of Palmetto Mayor Dan West said he was aware that the FDOT pushed the project back a couple of years, but did not hear the reasoning.
“It’s very important to all of us. We have some mornings here where it’s bumper to bumper,” West said of the DeSoto Bridge replacement. “We’re all concerned to see when that’s going to take place.”
City of Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown did not immediately respond to the Bradenton Herald’s request for comment.
However, Manatee County Commissioner Tal Siddique said a shift in FDOT’s funding schedule caused the delay for the DeSoto Bridge. Siddique was “not surprised” when he heard about the change about a month ago, which he was told had occurred because the FDOT is focusing on the Manatee Avenue bridge to Anna Maria Island.
Even after construction begins, building the DeSoto Bridge’s replacement is expected to take 3 years, according to earlier FDOT estimates. That means the Bradenton-Palmetto area near the Manatee River could continue to see traffic congestion issues until 2033.
DeSoto Bridge replacement delayed to 2030
Built in 1957, the DeSoto Bridge faces increasing demand, and its replacement will be part of the larger Bradenton-Palmetto Connector Project to address the traffic congestion issues along a major corridor.
According to a recent presentation by FDOT representatives, 47% of the trips through the Bradenton-Palmetto area are through trips, meaning drivers are not stopping in either city. The study included the Green Bridge, the DeSoto Bridge and the Trooper J.D. Young Bridge — the section of Interstate 75 that spans the Manatee River.
FDOT also says demand will continue to increase as current population estimates predict Manatee County’s population will increase by over 200,000 from 2020 to 2045.
The new DeSoto Bridge will be a similar length as the existing bridge but will be slightly wider. It will have two 12-foot travel lanes in each direction, a 10-foot inside shoulder on each side, a 12-foot outside shoulder and 12-foot shared-use paths on each side that will be separated by a barrier.
The outside shoulders will give drivers a place to pull over if there is an emergency or if emergency responders need to pass. There are no shoulders nor multi-use paths on the existing bridge.
Construction is estimated to cost $168 million and take about three years, according to the recent FDOT presentation at a Manatee County Board of County Commission meeting.
“If FDOT and the community does it right, it’s certainly the most significant infrastructure project in West County,” Siddique told the Herald.
However, Siddique is concerned about the total cost to address the entire corridor’s traffic woes. At the commission meeting, FDOT representatives said an overpass through Bradenton to Palmetto was an option. Sididque said an overpass could cost four times as much as the DeSoto Bridge replacement, bringing the total corridor constriction to nearly $1 billion.
