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Longboat Key, county and FDOT urged to coordinate on Gulf Drive/Cortez intersection, Coquina parking and multimodal options
Summary
Longboat Key officials told Manatee County that reducing drawbridge openings at Cortez and addressing the Gulf Drive/Cortez Road intersection and Coquina Beach parking are essential to relieve seasonal congestion; potential fixes include reconfigured parking, channelized crossings, limited access points and improved regional transit/ferry links.
Longboat Key officials urged Manatee County to work with FDOT and Bradenton Beach on a coordinated set of fixes for the Gulf Drive corridor that connects to the Cortez Bridge, arguing the corridor’s multiple sources of “friction” are driving severe seasonal congestion.
Town staff and commissioners described four compounding factors: the Cortez Bridge drawbridge openings (to be addressed by a fixed replacement funded by FDOT and estimated at $115,000,000), the constrained Gulf Drive/Cortez Road intersection, roadside beach parking that allows cars to back directly onto the state road, and the large Coquina Beach parking lot with multiple access points that create queues onto Gulf Drive. Isaac Brownman showed sped‑up footage of how vehicles staging at Coquina access points can stop northbound flow during peak season.
Town staff suggested incremental, low‑cost changes that do not require new right‑of‑way: consolidate Coquina Beach lot exits (county staff and residents urged closing multiple access points), shift on‑street perpendicular parking to angled parking or reconfigure access lanes, channelize pedestrian crossings, and create dedicated turn or queue lanes near the Cortez intersection. Commissioners and members of the public also proposed expanded ferry service or water‑taxi connections (county staff described acquiring Cortez Marina property and exploring water taxi routes) to move cars off the roadway.
Why it matters: officials said vendors and service workers who commute from Manatee County face long, unpredictable commutes during peak season, affecting economic activity on the islands and resident quality of life. Town staff emphasized that Cortez Bridge replacement will help but the corridor’s other bottlenecks must be coordinated concurrently so bridge improvements do not “go to waste.”
Next steps: town and county staff said they will continue conversations with FDOT and MPO, look at channelization and parking reconfiguration options in design work for the Cortez corridor, and coordinate on potential ferry/water‑taxi strategies. No formal county action was taken during the meeting.
