CORTEZ – The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is holding a public information meeting on the Cortez Bridge replacement project on Tuesday, Jan. 31 from 6-8 p.m. in the Kirkwood Presbyterian Church’s Pfrangle Hall at 6101 Cortez Road in Bradenton.
Documents to be presented are available online for those who cannot attend at the project website.
The in-person meeting will be an open house-style event that allows attendees to review the bridge replacement project materials at their own pace. No formal presentation will be given, but meeting attendees can pose questions to project team members and leave written comments as well.
Comments can also be emailed to FDOT Project Manager Ryan Weeks at Ryan.Weeks@dot.state.fl.us, mailed to Ryan Weeks/Florida Department of Transportation, District One, P.O. Box 1249, Bartow, Florida 33831-1249 or submitted online at the project website.
The project materials pertain to the construction of a fixed-span bridge that will replace the existing drawbridge. The materials presented for public review include a 19-minute video, presentation slides, display boards and a 3D animation.
The video provides details about the bridge construction process and the aesthetic design elements selected by the 11-member Bridge Aesthetics Committee (BAC), which includes local residents, business owners and Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie.
The narrated video notes the existing drawbridge that will be replaced was constructed in 1956 with an estimated 50-year service life, and multiple bridge repair and maintenance projects have occurred within the past 20 years.
The 90% completed plans will be submitted in the summer of 2023. Final design plans will be submitted in the spring of 2025. The construction project will be awarded to the chosen contractor in the summer of 2025 and construction is slated to begin in late 2025 or early 2026.
The new fixed-span bridge will be 2,930 feet long and consist of 19 spans. The existing drawbridge is 2.616 feet long, with 53 spans.
The new bridge will be built north of the existing bridge, with horizontal curves introduced at each end of the bridge to bring the alignment back to match the existing roadway alignment. Motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists will continue to use the existing bridge until the new bridge is capable of handling that traffic.
A minimum vertical clearance of 65 feet will be provided above the 100-foot-wide navigational channel located below the center of the bridge and delineated by a fender system.
There will be retaining walls at four locations: two at the west end of the bridge and two at the east end of the bridge. The walls will serve as transitions from the bridge to the roadway. The BAC selected a multi-wave design pattern for the walls.
BAC members considered nine different pier styles and selected multi-column piers with cheek walls. The committee considered nine pedestrian railing alternatives and chose the wave infill pattern. They considered three overlook options and selected the rounded, open overlook shape, without benches.
The BAC members selected the color pallet that will include blue railings, sand/tan for the bridge and piers and white and off-white for accents. They also selected the outside face lighting option.
Three stormwater retention ponds will be located along the west end of the bridge in Bradenton Beach: one in front of the Bradenton Beach police station, one in front of the Bradenton Beach Marina and another in front of the Bradenton Beach Marina that will extend under the first span of the bridge and require the existing pedestrian and bike path under the bridge to be reconfigured.
One retention pond will be located on the east end of the bridge, near the Hunters Point Resort & Marina property. The eastern side of the project will also include the construction of a new road called Hunters Point Way that will connect Cortez Road and 127th Street West and provide access to the Seafood Shack, Tide Tables and the other businesses and homes in that vicinity.