Tara Boulevard residents gather support for bridge over Braden River

A historically-divided issue is resurfacing.

Residents in neighborhoods along Tara Boulevard — including Whisper Bend and River Place — are rallying support via Facebook to get the county to reconsider building a bridge over Braden River. 

The bridge has been in Manatee County’s comprehensive plan for decades  and the county even purchased the necessary land in 2009 and 2012, approximately 25 acres, for about $2 million. It’s an unfunded project.

However, the bridge was a contentious issue as some residents did not support the project, feeling a bridge too big could ruin Tara Boulevard. 

Al Horrigan, River Place resident and bridge supporter, says he and other supporters don’t want that either. 

A group of residents, connected on Facebook via open group “Build the Tara Bridge Now,” plan to approach the county at an upcoming meeting with their request to leave Tara Boulevard a meandering, two-lane road and build a two-lane bridge with an additional lane for emergency vehicles, so that the residents of the area have an alternative method to travel south. In order to get to University Parkway now, residents have to travel north to go south. Taking I-75 is the fastest route.

“I-75 isn’t meant for local traffic,” said Whisper Bend resident Mark Butler.

He helped start the Facebook group in mid-March, along with Horrigan, former county commissioner Donna Hayes, Barbara Hemingway of Whisper Bend and Peggy Christ, who lives in the area.

Butler and Horrigan voiced concern for the intersection of State Road 70, Creekwood Boulevard and Tara Boulevard when the 44th Avenue Extension is completed. Although eventually the extension will cross I-75 into Lakewood Ranch, that’s years away and traffic will congest the already troublesome intersection. If the bridge over Braden River existed, some of that traffic would be alleviated as Tara-side residents would be able to travel south instead, Horrigan said. He also said the bridge would allow the Southern Manatee Fire Station, located directly across the river on Honore Avenue, to respond more quickly to Tara-area emergencies.

“We know it would be 5 to 6 years away but we want them to start the project,” Butler said. 

For Horrigan, the bridge could mean saving lives in the future. His neighbor and friend Diane Kiffner and two of her visitors from Ohio died in an accident on I-75 in February while they were traveling home from dinner on University Parkway. If a bridge would have been built, his friends could have been safe, he said.

The Facebook group has 128 members. Butler said members of their group are hoping to speak at the Tuesday, May 24 County Commission meeting.